


Unhinged

by Skycarma



Category: LEGO city adventures
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:33:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 36,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25878967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skycarma/pseuds/Skycarma
Summary: After Tippy Dorman’s attempt to bring forth the utopia called “Paradoors”, He was put in jail. He discovered something that gives him hope about the prophesied world. Now he must lay low until the time is right to proceed with his plans.Meanwhile, Clemmons was part of the crew to clean the wreckage from the Mars door crashing into Earth. He uncovered something that will make Tippy’s plans more complicated...
Relationships: Bob/Clemmons
Comments: 3
Kudos: 17





	1. Harl Hubbs Day

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my first fan fic! Just a few key things to point out. I have FINISHED writing this story, and I'll probably update it every other day cause I'm impatient. This story will have spoilers from season 1, and season 2. the latest episode I recommend you watch is "Dirty Duke". Also I didn’t explicitly say that Tippy / Harl, or Tippy / Duke will be in here cause I wanted to leave it ambiguous to avoid spoilers of my story, but you’ll see some Tippy romance of either kind at some point. But honestly, the romance isn’t really the main point of my story, but it’s still there!

_So, you are here to hear a heartwarming story about this city? Sorry to disappoint, but there is a lot going on in this story, and heartwarming is probably not the right term. Oh? Who am I? I am the Narrator. And I’m here to tell you the story about Tippy Dorman: a once evil doorman who tried to take over the world by bringing the prophesied world of Paradoors to reality. Not to mention the fact that Clemmons is also a large part of this story. I know it sounds kinda out of place for those two to be the main characters, but trust me, it will make sense in time._

Ring! 

_Excuse me, my phone is ringing…_

_Oh? Hmmmm well ok then. Good bye._

_Sorry about that. I just heard the news that apparently I won’t be the one narrating this story. I’m pretty disappointed honestly, this sounded like a good gig. I could’ve kickstarted my job and maybe not be a disappointment like my brother-in-law Gary. But nobody cares for the Narrator… even though I have the remarkable ability to break the fourth wall. Oh well, without further ado, I give you the story: Unhinged._

* * *

Tippy opened the door for Ms. Blumfeld. Of course he didn’t open the door as any regular person would. He opened the door like a true doorman.

“It’s always a pleasure to be at your service Ms. Blumfeld!” he said.

She came out of the apartment doors and made her way across the street, using her walker as usual. It was a lovely day to be out doormaning. Of course any day was lovely, but today in particular, the weather was working for him. It was cool, but not chilly, not too hot for his doorman suit either. He heard a car park on the road. It was Duke Detain in his new car.

“Hello Lieutenant Detain, are you here to ask me more questions about the Silver Blur?” Tippy asked.

Duke rolled down his window “No actually, we haven’t seen him since I let him off with a warning. I’m here to see how you're doing.” 

Tippy walked closer to Duke. “I’m doing marvelous. How about you?”

“If I’m being honest, there’s been something on my mind that I wanted to talk to you about.” 

Tippy raised his eyebrow. Duke seemed a bit uncomfortable, as he was unable to maintain eye contact.

“Do you remember the time before you went to Mars that I told you I had feelings for you?” 

Even though Tippy wasn’t eating anything, he just about choked. Of course he remembered. It was a time similar to this. Duke has pulled up to him while he was working and told him he had a crush on him. Tippy responded by saying he needed time to process how he actually felt. In truth, he did not want a relationship with someone who could jeopardize his Paradoors plans. He stayed a good distance from Duke after that to avoid him catching on to his secret mission. The topic had never been brought up until now.

“Yes, I remember.” 

Duke cleared his throat before he continued. “Well after the thing you pulled with being the master criminal, I guess I lost interest. So my point is, I want to be just friends.” 

That sounded just fine with Tippy. He wasn’t looking for a relationship, especially with everything Harl did fresh on his mind… Tippy shook his head to stop his thoughts from proceeding.

“That's understandable. I think we will work well as friends.” 

Duke smiled and opened his mouth as if he were going to speak, but he was interrupted by a voice ringing through the city streets.

“Hey everyone! It’s Harl Hubbs! I’m in the junkyard! Come and find me! Follow the sound of my voice!” 

Tippy looked at Duke who looked like he was about to take off. “What’s happening?”

“Haven’t you heard? It’s Harl Hubbs Day. I want Harl to fix my siren. It sounds like a dying elephant.”

Tippy got light headed. He had completely forgotten that it was Harl Hubbs Day. It was so unfair that the town dedicated a day to a man that ruined Tippy’s plans. Duke positioned his mirrors and placed his hands on the steering wheel.

“I’ve got to go, see you around.” He drove off, and as he did so, a crowd came out of the apartment Tippy worked at, carrying an assortment of objects they wanted Harl to fix. 

Just about the whole residency came out to join Harl in the junkyard. Tippy stood out by the door for a moment, but then realized it was useless. There was nobody in the apartment, so they didn’t need him as a doorman right now. Tippy sighed before he accepted his defeat and made his way to the elevator to go into his own apartment. Once again, he had been defeated by Harl. Tippy grudgingly made his way to his apartment and looked out the window. The streets were mostly empty, with just about everyone gathering in the junkyard.

“I can’t believe that the whole city wants help from Harl. He’s not as great as everyone thinks he is.” Tippy muttered to himself.

Tippy made his way to the couch and sat down as the memories of what happened on the spaceship came flooding back to him.

* * *

“Harl! Get off! I already told you I call the top bunk!” 

Harl was on the top bunk and had started to get settled in. It was their first night in space, and things already weren’t going great. Tippy could tell this was going to be a very long month.

“Sorry, Tippy. I forgot.” He grabbed the side of the bed and climbed down to the bottom bunk. 

The bunk bed didn’t have a ladder. What would be the point? They were in space! It was much easier to just float up to their destination. Tippy floated to the top bunk and tucked himself in tightly to prevent him from floating away. Even his pillow was velcroed to the bed so it wouldn’t drift away. Tippy turned to his side to get more comfortable. It had been a long day; he had successfully acquired the Mars door and set up the autopilot so he could make the trip back home. Of course he was planning on taking the trip alone, but Harl had other plans. Tippy was half asleep until…

_Bonk!_

Tippy felt something bump him from underneath his bed.

“Harl, what are you doing?”

“I accidentally floated up…” came the reply.

Tippy was too tired for this. “That’s why you are supposed to tuck yourself in tightly.” 

Tippy heard Harl giggle under his bed. “I can’t tuck _myself_ in, silly!”

“If you are suggesting I tuck you in, then you are out of luck.” Tippy forcefully shut his eyes and tried to ignore Harl. It was peaceful for a moment longer until he felt Harl struggling under the mattress. There was no way Tippy was going to get any decent sleep like this. 

Tippy sighed. “Ok, fine.” 

He got out of bed and pulled himself down to the bottom bunk. Harl was floating up and pressed under Tippy’s mattress.

“Alright, get down.” 

Harl found his way back under the covers. Tippy grabbed his blanket and started tucking into the sides of the bed. These bunk beds were not practical in space, but hardly anything that came from the city was.

“You have to learn how to tuck yourself in. I mean you are a grown man.” Tippy finished tucking Harl in and was just about to get back to bed when Harl looked up at him.

“Goodnight, Tippy.” 

Tippy didn’t make eye contact with Harl. “Goodnight.” 

Tippy hoisted himself back up to his bed and tucked himself in. It was finally quiet, and he was able to catch some sleep.

That first night wasn’t even the worst of it. Three weeks into their journey back home, things became a whole lot more complicated. It had become routine to tuck Harl into bed every night, but one specific night was a bit different... 

Tippy had just finished tucking in Harl’s sheets. They didn’t go to bed until it was very late; they were too busy talking. Tippy had to admit that Harl was really growing on him. He’d originally thought Harl would make the journey back home terrible, when actually, he made it kind of fun and less...lonely. Tippy couldn’t think of another person who could get him talking for hours, and he was kind of sad when their conversation ended. He was just about to make his way up to his bed until a tired voice stopped him.

“Hey, Tippy?” 

He stopped what he was doing and looked at Harl. “Yes?”

“I’ve wanted to say this for a bit now, but I really like you. I know that we are always hanging out because we are stuck together, but I genuinely want to do things with you.” 

Tippy was tired, but that woke him up. He also had feelings for Harl, but he tried to push them away because he thought they would get in the way of his Paradoors mission. But maybe if Harl felt the same way, he would help him? 

“I like you too.” 

Tippy bent over and kissed Harl’s forehead. It felt good to stop pushing away his feelings and finally embrace them. He drew away and smiled at Harl before he went back up to his bunk. He tucked himself in, got comfortable, and tried to sleep. It wasn’t going so well because he couldn’t stop thinking about Harl.

* * *

Tippy pushed away those memories. He didn’t like them, because he had opened up to Harl, only to have Harl foil his plans at the last moment. That was probably Harl’s mission all along: get Tippy in a vulnerable position so it would be easier to take him down. Tippy should’ve been smarter, he should’ve known that his emotions had been Harl’d. Now the whole town saw Harl as a hero, and Tippy as an evil criminal. It got so bad that some people would avoid walking on the same sidewalk as him. Everyone feared him after he hijacked the Mars mission. 

It was unfair that the citizens saw his mission as evil and selfish, when Paradoors was meant for them. In Paradoors, everyone could feel happy and could forget the worries of the regular world. But they wouldn’t understand that true happiness until they actually stepped into that world and experienced it for themselves. Thankfully, Tippy had another plan to get them to their paradise. He had been laying low because nobody trusted him anymore, but he had new tricks up his sleeve. He was going to bring forth Paradoors, and this time he wouldn't let Harl get in the way. Tippy stood up from the couch and looked out the window again.

“Just you wait, Harl. You may have won for today, but the sun always sets. I have a new plan, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”


	2. Bob’s Secret

Flames engulfed the remains of the Totally Dynamite Dynamite and Totaling Factory. The fire magnified the uneasiness Clemmons had already felt throughout the day. First Mayor Fleck had told the city that the door rock from Mars was going to crash into the city and destroy everything unless they moved the dynamite directly out of its path. After doing that, Tippy’s ship almost crashed into the pile of dynamite they had just moved. Thankfully, the whole city was saved by Harl, but the situation wasn’t over yet. Clemmons and the fire crew were put in charge of getting rid of the flames left over from the impact and recovering the door-shaped rock.

He approached the scene cautiously. Fires scared him, even though he was a firefighter. He thought he’d get more comfortable with the fire fighting aspect of his job, but that hadn’t happened yet. Luckily Freya was an understanding chief and usually tasked him with the special job of fetching items to put out fires, as opposed to fighting the fires themselves. He enjoyed doing that, since that kept him a very safe distance from the fire sites. But he didn’t have much of a choice now. He had to inspect the fiery scene and the rock from Mars. He carefully stepped over the debris; the impact made the ground unsteady.

“Welcome...” 

Clemmons jumped back. What was that deep ominous voice? Had he imagined it?

“Huh?” He scanned the area and saw no one around him. Just the flames and the door shaped rock. 

“Welcome...to Paradoors!” 

“What?!” Clemmons was horrified. The door that Tippy brought back from Mars was speaking to him! 

“It’s real?!” Clemmons ran away screaming. 

He heard some really weird things about Paradoors and he couldn’t handle it. He didn’t want to live in a completely different world, much less a world with unlimited doors! There would be no privacy! He continued running and screaming until Freya stopped him. She grabbed his shoulder to prevent him from going on a running and screaming rampage.

“Clemmons, what's wrong? Is it the fire? It’s contained now, I promise.” 

He tried to catch his breath. “It’s not that! It’s the door! It spoke to me about Paradoors! Paradoors is real!” 

Freya tilted her head. “That’s not possible Clemmons. It’s just a rock. Maybe you’re imagining things.” 

He repeatedly shook his head. “Come look at it! It really spoke to me”

Clemmons grabbed Freya’s hand to drag her along. She reluctantly followed. They approached the door rock. It still stood in the middle of the crater it had formed when it hurdled into the ground. 

Freya walked up to it and stopped, listening for a few seconds. “I don’t hear anything.”

“I promise you, it spoke to me!” Clemmons insisted.

Freya turned to walk away. “I’m sorry Clemmons, but that doesn’t seem likely. Come on, let’s head back to the station.” 

Clemmons had to think of something to convince her, quick. “Wait! If I open it, it may lead to Paradoors, like Tippy said!” 

Freya turned around and put her hands on her waist and shifted her weight on one foot. “It’s nothing more than a rock. Tippy was simply delusional.” 

“Just watch.” Clemmons put his hand on the red circular knob. It felt rough like a rock, but he was able to twist the handle. The rock frame was stationary, but he was able to open the door. Behind the door was just the other side of the crater. There was nothing behind it. 

Freya frowned. “Clemmons, we have no time for this. Let’s just go back to the station.”

Clemmons sighed in defeat. “Ok, Freya.” 

He stepped away from the door and started to make his way out of the crater. He felt a strange sensation that made him look back at the Mars door. He knew what he had heard. True, the door hadn’t opened to Paradoors, but maybe that was because only Tippy could activate it. Clemmons knew that Paradoors must be real, but he wanted to stay as far away from that world as possible. He decided not to admit to anyone what he knew. He had embarrassed himself enough around Freya.

“Freya?” She was a few steps ahead of him. She turned and looked back at Clemmons.

“Can we destroy the door? I mean because it’s not real. There would be no use for it.” 

Freya was a bit confused. “Sure, if it’s ok with Dr. Wexler and Dr. Ravenhurst. I’ll ask them.” 

Freya ended the conversation and hopped into her chief fire truck. Clemmons hopped into the other fire truck with Bob, who had the engine already running. With the door destroyed, Tippy would never be able to activate the passage to Paradoors, and Clemmons could continue living his normal life in a normal world.

* * *

“Bob! Clemmons!” 

Freya’s voice rang through the fire department and broke Clemmons out of his daydream. He jumped out of his desk chair and ran across the hallway to Freya’s office. Bob had arrived at her office the exact same time as he did. It was almost like they were in sync. They stood in the doorway as the awaited instructions.

“We are out of cocoa mix! I need you two to go to the store and get some more!” Freya said.

This was an emergency. Freya without her cocoa was not something Clemmons wanted to witness. Bob had already made his way out of her office, and right before Clemmons could run out the door, Freya spoke up.

“Wait, Clemmons. Close the door. I want to talk to you before you go.” 

He swung the door closed and turned around, then he took a seat in front of her desk. Could this be a performance review? He thought he did good this quarter with getting supplies, but actually fighting fires?

“Clemmons, you may have noticed that I’ve been pairing you up with Bob to go and get supplies. I did this because I think you two are a good fit. But you tell me, do you think you work well with Bob?” 

Clemmons had noticed that they had been paired up a lot more often, and honestly, he enjoyed it. Bob had been a nice companion for him. He’d also really improved at getting supplies as he completed more and more trips.

“Yes! I think I work well with Bob. I like him… a lot!” Clemmons realized how that last part sounded out loud and blushed. He did like Bob… a lot, but he didn’t want to just admit that to Freya. 

Luckily, Freya didn’t seem to notice his red face. She nodded, pleased. 

Bob’s voice yelled from the downstairs garage. “Come on Clemmons! We’ve got to go! You know how Freya gets without her cocoa!” 

Freya chuckled. “He’s right. You should get going.” 

Clemmons sprang out of the chair and went to open the door. He did so, and found himself in the garage. That wasn’t quite supposed to happen. Freya’s office led to a hallway, where he had to go down the fire pole to get to the garage… but he was already here. Maybe that route became so routine that he’d just blanked out? Either way Bob was already in the fire truck, ready to go. Clemmons hopped in the passenger seat and buckled up as Bob turned on the engine. Clemmons learned the hard way that he should wear a seatbelt when Bob was driving. He was very touchy with the brakes. Bob rolled out of the garage and made his way onto the main road. Clemmons was expecting a rough ride like normal, but with the sirens off, it was actually kind of peaceful. 

“Wow, Bob! You are a much better driver when it’s not an emergency.”

Bob didn’t take his eyes off the road as he spoke. “True. But don’t get too comfortable. You never know when Duke could be on the road.” 

Clemmons chuckled. He didn’t think Bob would make a lot of jokes, but something about him not being in an emergency made him a little different. Maybe Bob was like him? Clemmons acted differently when things were regular versus an emergency, going from anxious to more relaxed depending on the situation. Clemmons had not realized he was staring at Bob, but Bob noticed.

“Are you good Clemmons?”

His face turned red as he quickly turned his head and looked out the window. “Oh, yes. Sorry.” 

They continued driving for a bit until they reached the store. They were used to quicker drives because they’d usually have their sirens going as the citizens would clear the road and allow them through. They parked the big truck and made their way inside the store. They usually went to Mr. Producci’s stand for food, but he only really sold fruits and vegetables, so this was a new experience. They walked past the clothing aisle to get to the food, but it took Clemmons a second to notice that Bob was not following him. He looked back and saw Bob was occupied by something. He walked back to see what the hold up was. Bob was looking at a funky pair of sunglasses. The shades had a tinted purple lens and a gold rim. Next to the hinges were two gold stars. 

“Those sunglasses look like something the Funky 46 would wear!” Clemmons said.

Bob didn’t notice that he was standing next to him and jumped. “Oh I didn’t see you Clemmons! But yeah, I agree that this fits the Funky 46 style.”

Clemmons noticed the way Bob was looking at the sunglasses and tilted his head. “Do you want to buy those sunglasses?”

“Uh I don’t know. Maybe.” Bob seemed oddly uncomfortable.

“Do you want to buy these sunglasses to look like the Funky 46?” Clemmons guessed.

Bob’s forehead started slightly sweating. “Umm....” 

Clemmons grabbed the sunglasses off the rack and handed them to Bob. “You should try them on!” 

“Uhhh I don’t know… just sunglasses aren’t enough to make me funky like the Funky 46.” 

Clemmons smiled. “So you do want to look like them!” 

Bob's face became more red.“Ok. Ok fine, I’ll admit it. I do want to be like the Funky 46.” 

Clemmons eyes lit up. “Really?! But I always thought you were a serious guy.”

Bob shrugged. “I am. Work comes before fun, but the Funky 46 does both.” 

Clemmons liked that. He thought Bob didn’t like too much fun at work, but now he was seeing that he could enjoy both.

“Wait right there, I’m going to get something.” 

Bob waited patiently as Clemmons ran off in the clothing aisle. A short time later, he had found the clothes he was looking for, and he took them back to Bob.

“Here! You said just sunglasses wouldn’t make you funky enough, so I got you a full outfit!” Clemmons said.

Bob's eyes widened as he saw the purple sparkly shirt that Clemmons had picked out for him. 

Clemmons continued to smile as he handed him the clothes. “You should go try them on!”

“I don’t know…” 

Clemmons was already ahead standing next to an empty dressing room. Bob exhaled and walked into the room and locked the door. Clemmons waited outside excitedly. He couldn’t tell if he was just impatient, or if it was really taking Bob a while.

“Let me know when you are done!” 

“Well I am done, but I don’t think I can physically walk out like this.” 

“Aww, but I’m sure you look great!” 

There was an awkward pause. “Fine you can come in here. But there is no way on earth I am going to step a foot out of here like this.” 

He unlocked the door for Clemmons who slipped in. Bob had put on the white bootleg pants and the purple sparkly v-neck shirt. And of course, completing the outfit were the snazzy sunglasses.

“Wow Bob! you do look funky!” 

Bob was tugging at the neck of his shirt and looked a bit uncomfortable. 

“Do you not like it?” Clemmons said.

“I think it might be overkill. Maybe just the sunglasses are good enough.” 

Clemmons looked at the purple tinted sunglasses. “I think they are very good on you!” 

Bob smiled. “Thanks.” He folded his arms and looked through his sunglasses at Clemmons.

“Well now that you know my secret, you’ve gotta tell me something about you.” 

Clemmons started blushing and broke eye contact.

“So you do have something! You’ve gotta tell me!” 

Clemmons exhaled to try to calm his palpating heart. “Ok, ok fine I’ll tell you my secret.” 

Bob leaned closer in anticipation. 

“My secret is… I like you.” 

Both of their faces went red as a fire truck. Bob opened his mouth as if he were about to say something, but he was interrupted by someone banging on the dressing room door.

“Hey! Only one person in a dressing room!” 

Clemmons jumped, embarrassed. He got out of the room and saw an annoyed girl standing right outside. She was a worker. She shook her head at Clemmons and went over to a nearby shelf and started folding jeans. Bob then came out in his regular fireman outfit. They walked to another aisle to escape the woman's disapproving looks. Once they were out of her line of sight, Bob bursted out in laughter. Clemmons laughed along.

“Oh man! We got busted! It’s not like we were doing anything wrong though.” Clemmons said.

Bob smiled in response. “Come on, we should really get back to the station.” 

* * *

They walked out of the store and made their way back to their fire truck. They drove back to the station, but they were pretty quiet the whole ride. The whole situation was awkward. They made their way up to their offices. It was clear both of them wanted to say something, but there was still an awkward silence. Bob finally decided to break the silence and spoke.

“So… about what happened…” 

Clemmons was glad the silence had been broken. “Yeah, it was awkward. We got busted by that lady.”

“No it’s not that, it's about what you said.”

Clemmons heart rate increased, realizing he was referring to Clemmon’s confession. 

Bob had a hard time making eye contact. “Well, I just wanted to say that I like you too.”

Before Clemmons could process those words, he heard someone else in the room spitting out liquid. They looked up and saw Freya holding her marshmallow mug, water dripping from her face. 

Clemmons was horrified. He didn’t know how much she heard.“How long have you been there?!” 

“Long enough. But hey, it’s cool. I knew you guys were a good fit.” 

Bob tried changing the subject. “Why do you have water in your mug?” 

“Because we are out of cocoa?” 

Bob and Clemmons looked at each other in horror. “We forgot the cocoa!!” 

Freya bursted out laughing. “Really? What did you guys even do at the store? Actually you don’t have to answer that… I can imagine.” 

Both of them looked awkwardly at the ground.

“Hey it’s ok. Just go back and get it. You’re lucky that people aren’t spontaneously committing arson today!”


	3. Heroes and Villans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok stuff starts to happen here... just a little heads up, I'd be a bit cautious if you have a fear of heights. But it should be fine. Also If you want the first see the first scene as a comic then go to the highlighted link, but I highly recommend you read the chapter first.

[Comic Version Link](https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/unhinged-lego-city-adventures-/prison-flashback-/viewer?title_no=494772&episode_no=2)

Tippy looked out the car window to see the city. The moon shone high overhead. There was also a soft red glow off in the distance. It was the fire that was created when the Mars door came crashing towards earth. Tippy was on his way to jail, with Duke driving the car. The car drive was quiet. Duke acted more stiff and cold than usual, but it was probably because he was in his “work mode.” It wasn’t something Tippy had really witnessed until now. They arrived at the jail, where Duke brought him to his cell.

Duke held up a striped jail jumpsuit. “You’ll have your trial tomorrow morning. Until then, you will wear this. I’ll be back in 10 minutes to come pick up your clothes.” He tossed the jumpsuit at Tippy and left, closing the cell door. It clicked as it locked behind him.

Tippy held up the jumpsuit to get a better look at it. It was grey, white, and definitely not appealing. “Seriously?! This is my payment? Some ugly jail jumpsuit?” 

He really missed his regular doorman outfit. He hadn’t had it on for around three months, wearing the space suit instead. At the very least he still had his doorman hat that helped show a bit of his identity. Tippy took off his orange space suit and put on the jail jumpsuit. After that, he looked at his cell to see how his living conditions would be for the next little bit. There was a small bed to the left and behind it, a small divider that made the toilet a little more private. There was also a small barred up window. And that was it. The cell door opened as Duke waited for Tippy to hand him his space suit. 

He reluctantly handed the clothes, but Duke still looked like he was expecting more. “I’m going to need your hat too.”

Tippy sighed as he took off his hat and handed it over to him. This was yet another thing the city would take from him. He opened his mouth so he could speak, but Duke had already slammed the door to his cell. Tippy went and sat on the small bed. It wasn’t all that comfortable. It was so unfair that he was thrown in jail for trying to help the city. Couldn’t everyone see that? All he wanted was to help his city by bringing the prophesied world to reality. Either way, when Tippy got out of jail, he’d still find a way back to that Mars door and lead everyone to destiny.

“Yo, Tipster!” 

His thoughts were cut off as he saw Chief Wheeler was looking at him through his cell window.

“Um… I’d thought I’d let you know that the rock you brought back from Mars was uhhh…” He paused. 

There was clearly something he didn’t want to tell Tippy. Dread shivered down his body. If something had happened to that Mars door he had to know. 

Tippy stood up and banged his fists against the window. “What? What happened to the Mars door?!”

Wheeler jumped back a bit from his harshness. “Well, it was just a rock. It didn’t lead to “Paradoors”. So, sorry bro, but we destroyed it and gave the remains to Dr. Wexler and Ravenhurst so they could study the atomic compounds-” 

He continued to speak but Tippy couldn’t concentrate. He felt like the room was spinning, and his already small cell was closing in on him. Tippy started shaking, then he snapped.

“Why did you destroy it?! I needed it for Paradoors!” Tippy was hyperventilating.

“It was just a rock, dude.” 

Tippy was getting more and more furious. “It is not _just_ a rock! I risked everything for the greater good! It was going to be the gateway to my glorious purpose! And you just casually destroyed it! WHO AM I WITHOUT IT!?”

Tippy knew he was getting hysterical, but he didn’t care. Hot tears came rolling down his face.

“Tippy?” Wheeler looked concerned. “I’ll leave you be.” He grabbed his skateboard and quickly skated down the hallway. 

Tippy folded his arms to try to contain his shaking body. He then sank down to the ground with his back against the door. He had his fingers in his hair as he tried processing everything Wheeler had told him. 

He angrily whispered to himself. “What is the point? My perfect word is gone and it’s all Harl’s fault.”

This must’ve been what Harl wanted. He wanted to see him fail and lose his purpose as the prophcied doorman. Harl knew how much this meant to Tippy and he’d ripped it from him anyway. If Tippy had known Harl would be so heartless, he never would have wasted his feelings on him. 

“With the Mars door gone, I can’t bring forth Paradoors… I am nothing.” 

He was supposed to be the one who brought happiness and joy to everyone. It wasn’t fair that one man took that away from everyone. What hope was there left for anyone? What hope was there for _him_? 

“I don’t want to be here anymore. I can’t stand being in a city that never cared for me.”

Tippy looked up at the door handle to his cell. He so desperately wanted to leave and run away as far from this cell as possible...

He stood up and put his hand on the handle. He knew that it was locked, but he would give anything for it to somehow magically be unlocked. He was good with opening doors, even locked ones, but he was not well acquainted with jail cell doors. He grasped the handle tightly and exhaled before he tried pushing the door. To his surprise, there was no resistance on the door. It slightly creeped open. Instead of opening the door to the jail hallway, he found himself in a barn. That didn’t make sense.

He looked behind him and the door that he came from was now a barn door. He walked out and found himself in the middle of nowhere. Even though it was dark outside, he could still make out red rocks. He was in a dry desert.

He looked up at the sky and saw how beautiful and brilliant the stars shined. In the city, the glare of the city lights drowned out the stars, but it was clear that he was somewhere far away from the city. It was very strange. It was almost as if he teleported to somewhere random in the desert. 

“Who are you?!”

There was a deep voice that spoke to Tippy from the barn. He squinted to get a better look and saw a silhouette of a cowboy leaning up against the barn.

“What are you deaf?! I asked you a question. Who are you?” 

“I’m a doorman.”

“You don’t look like one.” 

Tippy looked down at himself and remembered he was wearing a jail jumpsuit. 

“This is no place for you to hide out. I don’t treat guests kindly.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll be on my way.” 

The cowboy growled at Tippy. “I don’t think so.” 

Tippy slowly started backing up. But the cowboy was reaching in his jacket to grab something. Tippy was not going to stick around to figure out what it was. He started sprinting, but the cowboy’s footsteps followed behind. It almost sounded like he was opening a can of soda? Tippy didn’t have time to look back. He just focused on running, not sure how he’d escape this man, much less get back where he came. He approached an outhouse and quickly opened the door only to find himself back in his jail cell. He panted as he held the door closed.

He looked down at his shaking hands. How did he do that? Tippy could only think of one possible explanation. The Mars door had somehow given him door teleportation powers, even though it was now destroyed. Did this mean that Paradoors was still possible? He decided to test his powers one more time to see if his theory was correct. Feeling homesick, he opened the door, and on the other side was his apartment, exactly how he left it three months ago before he went on the Mars mission. Tippy closed the door and was left in his jail cell with his thoughts spiraling out of control. 

“Paradoors is here.”

* * *

Tippy was walking along a street he had not been down in a while. In fact, he believed the last time he was around this part of town was before he went to Mars. It’s not that he didn’t like this part of town; he just never had a reason to come until now. For a while now he’d been laying low with his door powers. He wouldn’t reveal them to anyone until the time was right. But for now, his plan was to check every door in the city. He was checking every door secretly since he believed the essence of the Mars door was placed into some other door in the city. He tried accessing Paradoors directly with his door powers, but that didn't work. He had expected the Mars door to lead them to paradise, but that was destroyed. However, he still had powers linking him to Paradoors. That’s why he figured that even though that door was destroyed, the actual portal to Paradoors must still be out there somewhere, residing in some other door, and he was going to find it. He didn’t know exactly what he was looking for, but he was sure he’d know it when he found it. 

Of course he was waiting on using his door powers to search through the difficult doors, like the doors in people’s houses. He wasn’t going to just randomly barge in and inspect their doors. The town already thought he was crazy given his obsession with Paradoors. No, he would use his powers to sneak in at night and check the doors only when everyone was sleeping, and he would try to do so as quickly as possible. Even though he could be using his teleportation powers right now, he missed simply walking down the street like a regular person. 

He came up to a door in an alleyway. He looked around it to see if anything about it was unusual. It seemed like a pretty average door, a rusty one at that. He opened it and found the back of a restaurant. Nope. That was definitely not the door to Paradoors. He closed it and continued walking down the street to the next door in the alley of an apartment complex. But then something caught his eye. Lights flashed outside this apartment. It was the fire department. He saw Clemmons on the ladder trying to reach something. There was an emergency. 

Tippy ran up to Fire Chief Freya McCloud. “What’s going on?” 

Freya looked at Tippy before yelling. “There’s an emergency! A toddler locked herself out on the porch on the 9th floor! But our ladder only reaches up to eight stories!” 

Tippy looked up and saw a small toddler climbing around the railing on the balcony. The toddler definitely didn’t understand what she was doing, but she was dangerously close to the edge. 

Tippy jumped a little as Freya yelled by his ear. “Bob! Clemmons! I’m going to need Duke Detain!” 

Bob looked confused at Freya. “Shouldn’t we get a climbing rope?”

“NO TIME!” 

Bob and Clemmons took off in a fire truck. A woman who Tippy assumed was the mom turned to Freya looking very worried.

“How is Duke going to help?”

Freya gave her a reassuring look. “He is going to flip up the building to save your child.” 

Tippy glanced up again at the toddler. She had climbed the railing and was standing up on the thin metal rail. She was definitely going to fall. Even though Bob and Clemmons could somehow break the laws of time and physics, they weren’t going to make it in enough time. Tippy knew he had to intervene. He ran to the closest door, and made it connect to the balcony where the toddler was. He raced onto the porch. Being a toddler, this child didn’t have great balance to begin with, but she was almost literally walking a wire. She slipped, but right before she fell, Tippy grabbed her. At that point Duke barely arrived and was flipping his way up the building. He looked shocked to see Tippy up there with the toddler. He made one last flip onto the balcony.

“Tippy! You saved this little girl!” Duke was still trying to catch his breath. “How on earth did you open this door? I thought everyone was telling me that it was locked.” 

Tippy started to sweat. Now was definitely not the right time to reveal his door powers.

“I am a doorman. I know the ins and outs of every door.” 

Luckily, Duke seemed to accept that answer. Tippy and Duke took the little girl down to the main floor to be reunited with her mother. Her mom came and ran to her daughter. She held her tightly as tears streamed down her face. She was so emotional that she could barely speak to Tippy.

“Thank you for saving my daughter.” 

Tippy responded with a humble nod. Duke then turned to Tippy and smiled. “That was really heroic what you did there. It would’ve been too late if you hadn’t intervened. I guess I was wrong about you.” 

Tippy’s expression changed. He was wrong about what? What did Duke used to think of him? “What do you mean you were wrong?” 

Duke realized what he said and avoided eye contact with him. “Oh, well… I used to think you hadn’t really changed all that much since your time in jail. I guess I was still a bit suspicious about you.” 

Tippy couldn’t help but feel offended. Everyone in the town still thought that he was some evil maniac. He couldn’t believe that even Duke thought the same way about him. Well now that the little girl was safe, he didn’t have time to stick around and chat.

“Well I’ve got places to be. See you around, lieutenant.” 

Duke looked a bit disappointed as if he wanted to continue talking with him, but Tippy was already walking away. He continued walking down the streets, but he was skipping the doors he had already tried a while ago. He kept walking until he got to a place he had not tried yet. It was City Hall. This place was definitely going to be difficult to check, with all the politicians and businessmen roaming around the place. As he was thinking of a plan of how he was going to check city hall, his thoughts were interrupted by soft crying. He looked around confused to see who it was. He then saw Allen Conigsburgh sitting on a bench by the bus stop, sobbing with his face in his hands. Tippy approached him and sat down in an empty spot on the bench. Allen didn’t seem to notice that he sat by him. He softly cleared his throat to get his attention. As soon as he saw Tippy, he jumped.

“Tippy! Please don’t rob me!” He was shaking in fear.

“Why would I rob you?” 

Allen looked at Tippy through his tears. “You’re an evil doorman aren’t you?” 

When others accused Tippy of being evil, it made him angry, but not when it came from Allen. He was just an anxious guy voicing his irrational fears; it wasn’t Allen’s fault he thought Tippy may hurt him. “Not evil, just a doorman.” 

Allen seemed to have eased up a bit, but he was still softly crying. 

Tippy scooted in closer. “What’s the matter?” 

Allen covered his crying face with his hands. “Another doctor turned me away… it's like they are all scared of me.” 

What Allen said struck Tippy in the heart. He knew exactly how that felt. He never thought he had anything in common with Allen, but it was a relief to see someone else who could feel the same way. Allen wiped away his tears as he continued speaking.

“Not to mention the police department turned down my application as a nasal inhaler allergy police. All I want is to help people who are like me, especially since I think I am the most knowledgeable person about allergies. I just want to use my knowledge for good.”

This sounded like how Tippy felt about Paradoors. All he wanted to do was help his city leave behind the problems of the world and experience true happiness, and he was the only one who knew how to do that. Tippy was glad they could relate to each other, but he also felt terrible that there was someone who was going through the same unfair discrimination as he was. But in Paradoors, all of Allen’s issues would fade. He wouldn’t have to worry about being turned down by people because of his anxiety and allergies ever again. 

Tippy spoke in a gentle voice. “I’m sorry, Allen. It’s not easy to understand why some people don’t accept us. But I promise, things will get better.” 

Allen raised his eyebrow at him. “How?” 

Paradoors was looming on the horizon, but he couldn’t outright say that to Allen. The time was not right. He lowered his voice and spoke softly.

“I will make sure that you are accepted. You will be viewed for the person you are, and not your flaws. Someday soon, things will change. I promise.” 

Allen had stopped crying and looked at Tippy. “Thank you. I feel much better.” Allen stood up and started to walk away. But he turned to Tippy to say one last thing.

“I’m sorry for assuming you were going to rob me. People have been spreading rumors, but now I see they are wrong.” 

Tippy was not even slightly surprised that there were rumors being spread about him, but he was grateful that at least Allen was on his side now.

“It’s alright. Maybe tell those people that I really am just a doorman, who wants what’s best for the city.”

Allen nodded and walked off. Tippy then stood up from the bench and walked back towards City Hall. He had to continue with his mission while the sun was still out. Luckily he still had about two hours before the sun would set. He ascended the stairs to City Hall and approached the main doors.  
As he walked up the door, he felt slightly off. He didn’t know exactly what he was feeling but it was certainly strange. He placed hands on the handles and tried to twist them, but the doors didn’t budge.

“Huh?” Tippy thus far was able to open any door, including locked ones. It was very strange that he was unable to open this one. He had never had a hiccup in his powers, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not open this door. To be fair, there were many things he didn’t understand about his powers. He didn’t know if other doormen were able to access these powers, for starters. He often worried that other people also had the door teleportation powers and were using them to spy on him. It made him paranoid at times, and even made him slightly superstitious around doors, which was ironic because he was a doorman. He didn’t even understand how any of this was possible when he never even opened the Mars door to access Paradoors. He thought that it would only be possible to have door powers if he opened the Mars door. It was quite possible that somebody else opened the door before it was destroyed and triggered the start of Paradoors… But who? 

Tippy was so lost in thought that he didn’t even notice some business man walking up the stairs behind him. He walked past Tippy, went up to the main City Hall doors, opened them with no effort, and entered the building. This random man was able to open these doors, yet Tippy couldn’t. He wondered if he could access these doors by using his door powers on some other door. He went to an alleyway near City Hall and approached a side door to a building. He looked left and right to make sure no one was watching him. Once he saw the coast was clear, he opened the door and attempted to link it to the City Hall doors, but it only opened to some back storage area in a store. It simply didn’t make any sense. He was completely unable to access those doors in City Hall. 

Tippy tried to think of possible explanations. Were the other doors in City Hall unusual like these front doors? Maybe if he tried opening this alleyway door to the Mayor's office, he’d be able to test his theory. He placed his hand on the handle and concentrated. For his powers to work, he had to think of the place he wanted to go. It worked! He was in the Mayor’s office, but he noticed that Mayor Fleck was in a meeting with Carol, but both had their backs to him. He quickly, yet quietly backed up before they noticed him. Just as he walked out, he heard Carol speak behind the door. Hearing conversations behind doors was another perk of his powers. It made eavesdropping convenient. He decided to continue listening from the other side of the door, safely in the alley way.  
  


“We’ve got everything ready for the Mayors Ball for this weekend!” Carol said.

It was Fleck who spoke next. “Excellent! Did you send out all the invitations?” 

Carol spoke in her usual preppy voice. “I did! I sent them out to all the heroes of the city. But I made sure to keep this party low profile. We don’t want everyone figuring about this celebration. Especially the criminals! They would be total party poopers!”

  
“Agreed. Do we have a head count on how many people will be there?”

  
“Not exactly Mr. Mayor. We’ve invited all the officers and firefighters along with a few others, but they also are allowed to bring a date, so it’s impossible to tell exactly how many people will come.” 

Tippy stepped back from the door. He was starting to formulate a plan. He wanted to go into City Hall and explore all the doors and see exactly what was holding him back, but it would seem really suspicious, especially without an appointment with the Mayor. And if he was caught exploring it at night, that would seem extra suspicious, especially when the city was already convinced he was still up to no good. But a party would be a perfect distraction. Of course there was the setback that he wasn’t invited. It didn’t take a genius to notice that Tippy wasn’t viewed as a hero in this city, but Carol did say those invited could bring a date. And so who must have been invited? Duke. Tippy didn’t like that idea but it was the best one he could think of.


	4. The Mayor's Ball

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minor violence warning! Also, I'm putting the links to the comic version of this chapter at the end!

It was a pretty average day. Tippy was doing what he’d normally be doing which was doormaning his apartment. He heard tires screeching closer to him until a police car came to a skidding halt in front of the apartment. Tippy already knew who it was.

“Good afternoon Duke, how are you?”

Duke leaned out the window. “I’m good Tippy. The day’s been pretty slow too. There hasn’t been much crime since… well, I became Dirty Duke.”

Tippy was well aware of that whole fiasco. When news had come that Duke had gone bad, Tippy wasn’t sure how to feel. Was Duke truly bad, or had the city misinterpreted his actions and motives, similar to Tippy’s situation? Would the town finally forget Tippy’s past with the betrayal of Duke fresh on their minds? Of course, later that day, the town realized Duke had been manipulated by Snake, and they had easily forgiven Duke. Even Snake was getting let off easy in the city’s eyes, despite turning an officer against them. If only it could be that easy for Tippy to gain forgiveness. Jealousy aside, he was still concerned for Duke’s well-being. “Well, how are you feeling now?”

“My head is feeling much better, plus Snake did his time in jail so hopefully we won’t have to worry too much about him.” 

Tippy had never personally met Snake, but he heard a lot about him. It didn’t take a lot of eavesdropping to figure out that he liked to use soda as a weapon. Personally, Tippy would be fine if he never met Snake. He would prefer to keep his clothes soda free. 

Tippy realized that Duke was conveniently visiting him, and there seemed to be no better time than now to ask him about the Mayor’s Ball. “Well since you’re here I would like to ask you a favor.”

“Uh, sure, Tippy.”

“I want you to ask me out.”

“What?” Duke blinked in shock. This was definitely the last thing he was expecting to hear from Tippy.

“Tippy, we’ve talked about this. We are just friends.”

Tippy quickly responded to Duke. “I know. It’s just a friend date. But I want to accompany you to the Mayor’s Ball.” 

“How do you know about that?”

“I am a doorman.” That response always seemed to work on Duke.

Duke was still confused.“Why do you want to go?”

Tippy looked around at the nearby people on the sidewalk. “See, I apparently carry around a stigma that makes everyone think that I’m still the same. I want to show everyone that I’ve changed.”

“I mean you did save that toddler from falling off the balcony. I think that has shown you’ve changed.”

Tippy frowned. “Duke, have you not seen the news? Everyone is giving you credit for saving the toddler.”

“Seriously? But that’s not what happened!” Duke said.

Not too long ago, the news came out with a report titled “Officer Duke Detain saves a young girl from falling nine stories.” The media had clearly tried covering up the fact that it was Tippy who saved the girl. They simply couldn’t accept the fact that a “criminal” did a hero’s work. It was like the whole town only saw people as either good or bad. It seemed like the second anyone ever stepped foot in a jail cell, they suddenly were seen as a criminal forever. He didn’t even want to be praised. All he wanted was to clear his name, but that seemed just about impossible. 

“Plus, have you not seen people giving me weird looks?” Tippy said.

Those random people stared at Tippy, and when he locked eyes with them, they quickly turned and acted like nothing had happened. This happened quite often. Random people would stare at Tippy as if he were going to rip all the doors from their hinges and steal them. He would never do that; each door has a purpose in their place, but the city didn’t seem to think that.

“Hmmm. Alright fine Tippy.” Duke said. “You can come with me to the Mayor’s Ball. I’ll pick you up tomorrow at 7pm.” 

Tippy showed him that he understood by nodding.

“And remember, this is only a friend thing.” Duke said.

“Of course lieutenant.” 

* * *

The door decorated clock on the wall showed that it was 7:05. Duke was supposed to be at Tippy’s apartment 5 minutes ago to pick him up. Tippy wasn’t actually surprised he was late. Duke was never punctual. Expecting Duke to be late, he hadn’t started getting ready until 30 minutes ago. However, he was just about done. He was in a light blue suit with a brighter blue pocket on the left side of his chest. Out of the pocket dangled a fancy silver suit chain. His sleeves were slightly unrolled. He made sure to unbutton the top button of his white undershirt to expose a bit of his chest and collar bone. He valiantly slipped on his brown dress shoes. Finally, the last touch. He put on a pair of dangling black earrings that hovered above his shoulders. The doorbell then rang. Tippy opened the door and saw Duke in a dark blue suit with a lighter blue accent color.

“Alright, are you ready?” Duke asked.

Tippy stepped out of his apartment and locked the doors. The two walked to the available elevator and stepped on. Tippy pressed the lobby button, lighting it up. As the elevator was descending, Tippy glanced again at Duke. This time, he noticed the red tie that complemented his blue suit. It was a good change to what Duke would normally wear.

“That is a charming suit that you have on Lieutenant.” Duke looked down at his suit, then looked at Tippy’s.

“Thanks. Your suit looks good too. Light blue is a good color on you.” The elevator rang as they reached the lobby. Tippy then walked ahead and held the door open for Duke. Outside, New Car was parked on the curb beside the apartment. They climbed into the car and buckled their seatbelts. Tippy had thought through a lot of things that would happen tonight, but Duke’s reckless driving was not one of those things. Duke was swerving in and out of lanes, and clearly speeding.

Tippy held on to the overhead handlebars for dear life. “Duke, why are you driving like this!? It’s not even an emergency!”

“Yeah, but we’re late!” 

Thankfully they arrived at City Hall in one piece. They ascended the steps and approached the main doors. Tippy still felt uncomfortable around those doors. Hopefully he would unlock their secrets soon enough. He waved and ushered Duke to open the doors. Duke was confused, but opened the door for Tippy anyways. They walked past the darkened reception room and followed the light into the enormous main room, where they were greeted by Carol.

“Ah Duke! I’m glad you were able to make it!” She saw that Tippy was with him. She stood there for a moment in confusion. “I see you brought Tippy as your date?” 

Tippy wasn’t going to wait for Duke to respond. “Yes, as friends.”

“I see.” Carol was still confused. “Well, enjoy the ball!” 

Tippy and Duke walked further into the spacious main room, but Tippy could feel Carol was still staring at him. Groups of people in nice suits and dresses mingled under the draping crystal chandeliers and domed ceiling, and smooth white marble pillars rose up around them. The artistic detail in the surrounding architecture and the formal attire made for a very elegant atmosphere. A grand staircase rose to an archway, connecting to the overlooking balconies of the second floor. Just this room alone held many doors, and Tippy knew his work was cut out for him. But for now, he would stick with Duke. As they walked further into the crowd, more and more heads turned. Tippy looked at them, but of course, they turned and avoided eye contact. Tippy sighed. 

Duke noticed this exchange. “Hey it’s ok Tippy. You’re here to show everyone that you’ve changed.”

Even though his main goal was to inspect the doors, he wondered if he could prove himself to these guests tonight. Maybe if the right opportunity came up, he would try saying a few words, but he doubted it would change anything. “Right…” 

Someone was approaching. It was Tom Bennett. He was also giving Tippy disapproving looks, but honestly, that was normal from Captain Bennett. 

“Lieutenant, do you mind if I speak to you for a moment privately?”

“Yes sir,” Duke turned and looked back at Tippy. 

“Sorry Tippy, work stuff.” 

Tippy was put off by this, but he stood there in the middle of the crowd as he waited for Duke to come back. Tom and Duke went off to the side of the main room, out of sight from Tippy.

“Lieutenant, why is Tippy here?” Tom asked, sounding a bit concerned.

“He’s with me.” Duke said.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? This a ball to celebrate heroes and Tippy is-”

“With all due respect, I don’t like you talking about Tippy like that. I must remind you that he saved that little girl from falling. I think he deserves to be here.” Duke left it at that and briskly walked away from Tom. He made his way back to Tippy.

“So what did you two talk about?” Tippy asked.

Duke shook his head. “It’s not important. Let’s just enjoy the party.”

Tippy awkwardly tried scanning the room’s doors again. There was one at the top of the staircase, and many on the lower floor. He thought about which doors he should try to test first, wondering how he could leave Dukes presence without seeming too suspicious. Tippy continued to scan the room until he met eyes with Harl. 

He quickly avoided eye contact as his heart jumped. He desperately hoped Harl hadn’t recognized him. This was bad. First Duke’s driving, and now an encounter with the man that had derailed everything for him? He’d successfully avoided Harl since space --his door powers definitely helped with that-- but he’d been so focused on the City Hall doors mission that he hadn’t even stopped to realize that Harl could be invited here. Tippy didn’t see any heroic qualities in him, but the city sure did. 

Tippy saw that Harl was making his way over to him, but thankfully, he was being slowed down by the large crowd that separated the path between them. Tippy couldn’t face him now, not when Harl’s betrayal was still fresh on his mind. Just looking at him surfaced painful memories. Panicking, he turned to Duke. 

“Dance with me.”

“I thought I told you this was going to be a friend thing.”

“It will just be a friend dance. Can’t two friends just dance?”

“That’s not really a-“ 

Tippy didn’t have time for this. He could tell Harl was getting closer. “Please.”

Duke looked at Tippy’s pleading eyes. It didn’t make too much sense to him that Tippy wanted to dance with him. Hadn’t Tippy agreed to stay friends back on Harl Hubbs Day? But Duke could tell that for whatever reason, this dance would mean a lot to Tippy.

Duke signed. “Alright fine, just one simple dance.” 

Tippy quickly grabbed Duke’s left hand and moved his right hand to Duke’s waist and started dancing. Duke eventually eased and put his other hand on Tippy’s shoulder. They were slowly swaying to the elegant music. Tippy tried ducking behind Duke to be out of the line of sight of Harl. Duke noticed Tippy’s odd behavior and spoke up.

“Tippy, are you hiding from someone?” 

“No.”

Duke turned his head to look behind him. He noticed Harl nearby with a look of disappointment and confusion on his face. Duke leaned closer to Tippy and lowered his voice.

“You’re hiding from Harl aren’t you?”

Tippy lowered his voice to match Duke’s “Alright, fine I am.”

“Why?” 

It was a simple question, but Tippy hesitated to answer it. How could he explain the strong emotions he felt? “When I was in space me and Harl had a little...thing going on. But things are complicated now.”

Duke smiled as they continued dancing. “So, do you want me to help you with your issue?” 

Tippy looked surprised at Duke. “How could you help me?”

“I could advise you to go and talk to him. And work things out.”

Tippy looked away, avoiding eye contact with Duke.“No, I hate him.” 

“Oh.” Duke was a bit surprised by Tippy’s harsh words. 

It was quiet for a bit as they danced.

“Did you ever hate me?” Duke finally said.

Tippy looked back at Duke. “No… And I guess I don’t hate Harl. He just really hurt me.” 

Tippy didn’t know why he said that in the first place. He definitely didn’t hate Harl, but his emotions were still strong. He gave Harl his heart; he was open and vulnerable. Never before had Tippy cared for someone like how he cared for Harl. He loved him… But being that close to someone only set him up for more pain. The feeling Tippy was feeling wasn’t hate; it was broken-hearted. Luckily, Paradoors would fix his broken heart. The prophesied world would fill every with unlimited joy, and that included Tippy. 

Tippy tightened his grip on Duke's hand without realizing it, but Duke noticed. Tippy finally looked back to see Harl, but he saw that he was dancing with Freya. Tippy knew it was platonic because Harl wasn’t into girls, and it wasn’t a romantic looking dance. But still he knew that Harl must’ve danced with Freya just to get on his nerves. He let go of Duke.

“I need to freshen up.”

* * *

Tippy made his way alone to the dark reception room. The music wasn’t too loud in the first place, but in the reception room, he could hardly even hear it. Trying to forget Harl, he stopped in front of the main doors. He paused before he put his hand on the handle. He tried opening the door from the inside, but it still didn’t work. 

“Why won’t this work? This door isn’t even locked. Something about this door feels different.”

“Oh hey Tippy.” 

Tippy jumped and looked to see who was talking to him. It was Clemmons. Even though it was dark, Tippy was able to see he was wearing a deep purple suit with a gold emblem and a black undershirt.

“Hello, Clemmons.” 

Clemmons stood there awkwardly in the dark room. There wasn’t much reason for someone to leave the main room. It was a little odd that Clemmons was just standing there as if he had something on his mind. He then walked closer to Tippy and lowered his voice.

“Can I ask you something? Something about doors?”

Tippy perked up. “Of course.” 

Clemmons looked uncomfortable, but he still spoke.

“Can doors make you feel a certain way? Because I feel weird around this door. I mean it’s just a piece of wood. How can it make me feel weird?”

Now Clemmons really had Tippy’s attention.“You feel it too?”

“Uh yeah, I came back here because it was bothering me a bit.”

Tippy’s mind started racing in confusion. Why was Clemmons feeling the same odd sense of unease? Clemmons was no doorman. He had no connection to doors.

Could Clemmons somehow be linked to Tippy’s inability to open this door? Tippy couldn’t help but to investigate Clemmons’ questions further.

“Do you by chance know what happened to the Mars door?”

“Oh that thing? It was destroyed after I opened it and nothing was behind it.”

“You opened the Mars door?!”

“Yeah, after it spoke to me.” 

Tippy was doubtful. He was very sure that the Mars Door couldn’t speak. But then again, what did he know? There was still so much mystery around that door. But he was still intrigued that Clemmons actually opened it. 

“This might be a weird question, Clemmons, but have you ever had a strange experience with a door? Like have you ever magically teleported through a door?”

“You know, now that I think of it, I have. One time I was talking with Freya, then I left her office and was in the garage. I thought I blanked out because Freya’s office is not connected there. It just didn’t make sense.” 

Tippy was completely shocked but tried not to show it. “So you’re saying you went through a door and it led somewhere it wasn’t supposed to?”

“Umm maybe. Or maybe I blanked out?”

Tippy couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Is it possible that Clemmons had door powers like him? He did actually open the Mars door. The prophecies always said whoever opened that door would lead everyone to Paradoors. 

“So what does that have to do with me feeling like this door is weird?” Clemmons said.

Tippy ignored Clemmon's question and looked up at the main doors. Was it possible that after the Mars door was opened by a non-doorman, and destroyed, that it was replaced with this door? Was this the one door that he’d been searching for? It would make a lot of sense because it was the only door in the entire city that gave off strange energy. Tippy had been so sure that he had been the man prophesied to lead everyone to Paradoors… but maybe that was actually Clemmons? Could Clemmons be the key? Tippy wanted to test his theories.

“You should try opening the door.” 

Clemmons was confused but started walking up to the door and put his hand on the handle. He started sweating and shaking. It was like something was holding him back from opening the door. But he gently pushed on the door until it cracked open. Tippy looked past Clemmons’ shoulders and couldn’t believe his eyes. There was a world that stretched as far as his eyes could see, and it was completely covered in doors. The doors were various colors, but they were put together to make the buildings, cars, and even trees. A utopia was ready for them with all the resources they needed. He always knew Paradoors was real, but it was very overwhelming to actually see its resplendent beauty in person. Tippy was so lost in the new world that he jumped when Clemmons slammed the door.

“HOW’S THIS POSSIBLE!?”

Tippy noticed that Clemmons looked just about ready to take off panicking. If he went on a panicking spree, he’d tell everyone. Tippy was not ready yet for everyone to know. He was going to have to keep Clemmons quiet, but he was practically yelling.

Tippy lowered his voice so that hopefully Clemmons would match his.

“Clemmons, you were the one who opened the Mars door. Am I correct?” 

“Yes, but there was nothing behind it! How is it this door?” 

“I believe that opening the Mars door only activated the start of Paradoors. After you opened it, the portal to the utopia was brought here to the heart of the city, and you gained the power to access it.” 

Clemmons was hyperventilating. He looked down at his shivering hands.

“But, why me?!” 

Tippy approached Clemmons to hopefully calm him down, but he backed up.

“Because you opened the Mars door, which means you are the one who must lead everyone to their paradise.”

Tippy had backed Clemmons up into a corner in the dark reception room. 

“I don’t want to. Paradoors sounds awful! I like my life here, the way it is!”

Tippy was getting frustrated. He was so close, only literal inches away from his lifetime goal, but unable to do a thing! Clemmons had to open the door! It was his destiny. 

“Clemmons, you have to! You can’t take away happiness from everyone just because  _ you _ don’t want to go!” 

Clemmons was very panicked. He was like a scared cornered animal.

“Tippy, nobody wants to go! Why won’t you realize that? You’re evil if you think you can force this on people!”

Tippy snapped. He had enough of everyone calling him evil.

“I am NOT evil! I am here to make everyone happy!”

“No one will be happy in Paradoors!” 

Tippy’s voice cracked as he was losing control.

“You don’t  _ know _ that! You may not think it now, but everything will change for the better in Paradoors! That’s why we have to go! Trust me!”

“I am not going to open that door again.”

Tippy looked absolutely ferocious to Clemmons. Sweat dotted his face, and he was taking ragged breaths. Along with his expression, everything he was saying made him seem… unhinged. 

“I will only say this  _ one _ more time. Open that door.”

That really sounded like a threat. But Clemmons couldn’t let Tippy win. He was going to force everyone to Paradoors, but Clemmons knew that wouldn’t end well. He had to be brave for his city’s sake.

Clemmons tried to appear firm. “No, Tippy.” 

Tippy took a long breath, steeling himself. He had gone through too much to give up right now, not when Paradoors lay just a door away. He didn’t like what he had to do now, but Clemmons had forced his hand. Besides, when compared to the eternal bliss that awaited everyone in Paradoors, it would be more than worth it. 

With no warning, Tippy tackled Clemmons and grabbed him. He gripped Clemmon’s wrists and Clemmons struggled, trying to break free.

“What are you doing?!” Clemmons said, horrified.

“You’re coming with me!”

They wrestled there for a brief moment. Clemmons tried to scream so that someone would hear, but Tippy used his hand to cover his mouth. By doing so, he left one of Clemmons arms exposed. He used his free arm to push Tippy away, successfully slipping under Tippy’s grasp. He frantically sprinted into the main room, seeking help. He screamed as loud as he could.

“TIPPY’S TRYING TO KIDNAP ME!”

The crowd turned to look at Clemmons from across the spacious room. Tippy came up from behind and flung himself at Clemmons before he could reach the crowd. Now that he’d announced that to everyone, Tippy knew there was no going back. 

He wrestled Clemmons on the ground again. He was using all his strength to break free. The crowd in unison gasped. Everyone was in shock, but some were moving forward to intervene, Duke among them. But a large space still separated them from Clemmons, so Tippy acted fast. 

He grabbed a bag and put it around Clemmons, muffling his screams. Clemmons struggled in the tight bag as Tippy dragged him to the nearest door only a few feet away. Duke had gained a lot of ground and had almost reached them when Tippy reached the closet door, yanking it open and throwing himself and Clemmons inside. Duke hit the door right as Tippy slammed it shut. 

Nobody could hear Clemmons scream anymore. It was ominously quiet. Duke opened the door and found only a small janitorial closet. Tippy and Clemmons were nowhere to be seen. 

Bob pushed his way from the crowd and joined Duke at the closet. The crowd, including Duke, was in shock. They had just vanished.

* * *

Clemmons was struggling under the ropes that bound him to a chair. His metal chair felt cold and uncomfortable. Everything about this room seemed cold. 

He had no idea how much time had passed since he was tied to the chair. It felt like hours, but he had no clock or any reference to tell exactly how long. His body had been freed from the bag, but his head was still covered by a smaller bag. He felt like crying, but he didn’t.

Why wasn’t he crying? This was far scarier than anything he’d ever experienced. The bag didn’t smell too great, since it was drenched in his own sweat. He had been trying for a while to use what little strength he had to tug at the rough rope that bound him. He used another feat of strength to tug at the ropes bounding his wrists, but this time, he actually felt them loosen a bit. Before he could try loosening it further, he heard the sound of a door opening behind him. He clenched his fists tightly, hoping that if this was Tippy, he wouldn’t notice the loosened ropes. 

Suddenly the bag was taken off his head and Clemmons’ eyes stung at the sudden rush of light. Clemmons was shaking and hyperventilating. His fingers started tingling until they went numb. Finally his eyes adjusted and he saw he was in a dark room with one light directly above the table that was in front of him. The room looked like a police interrogation room, not that Clemmons had ever been in one, but he has plenty of police friends. Maybe he was at the police station? Clemmons became a bit comforted as he tried to believe that he was really in the police station about to get questioned on what just happened. He wanted to believe that. His hopes were immediately shattered as he turned his head to look behind him and saw a tall silhouette in the doorway. Tippy.

“Clemmons,” Tippy’s voice was calm, a huge difference from the voice that was just yelling at him back in the reception room.

“I’m sorry about everything that happened at the ball, how unprofessional of me.” Tippy stepped forward into the light above the table. Clemmons finally was able to get a good look at Tippy. He was still wearing his blue suit, but his hair seemed to be ruffled. His collar seemed to be uneven. There even appeared to be small bruises on his face. His appearance was not congruent to how he sounded. It made Clemmons feel very uneasy.

“Let me go, Tippy.” 

Tippy’s expression softened. “I can let you go, but you need to listen to me first.” 

Clemmons gulped as Tippy approached his right side. Tippy knelt down to be at his eye level. Tippy put his hand around the other side of the chair, putting his arm around Clemmon’s shoulder. He was close, and very threatening.

“If you help me open the door to Paradoors, I will make you a king, along with me of course.”

“I don’t want to be a king, all I want is safety for my city.”

“And what makes you think they won’t be safe in Paradoors?”

“Because nobody will be safe with an evil doorman as a ruler.”

Tippy leaned against the table and shook his head.

“I wouldn’t be the only ruler, you can help me. I mean, you have door powers too.”

Tippy continued to explain.

“You have an amazing gift. You have the power to open the door to Paradoors. But you also have the power to teleport using doors.”

“Tippy, is this about what I told you at the ball? I told you, I must’ve blanked out.”

“Observe.” Tippy went to the door that was behind them, turning Clemmon’s chair to face it. It was the only door in the room.

“Have any requests?” 

Clemmons was confused. “Requests for what?” 

“Where do you want to go?” 

“I want to go home, Tippy.”

He closed his eyes and smiled in a smug way as he opened the door in the interrogation room. He opened it and Clemmons saw his living room. It was just how he’d left it before Bob and him had left for the Ball.

“How- how's that possible?” 

“I have door powers, just like you.” 

Clemmons was shocked. So many things happened today. First, he went to the Ball with Bob, and that was exciting enough, especially because this was their first date since they decided to go official. Then he actually saw Paradoors with his own eyes, only to have Tippy kidnap him, and tell him that he has teleportation powers.

With his hands hidden from Tippy, he managed to loosen the knots even more. He was starting to form an idea to escape. “Well, if I do have those powers, as you say, then could I try to use them?” 

Tippy considered for a moment, then walked over to Clemmons and started to untie his legs and arms from the chair, but he kept his hands tied. Luckily, Tippy didn’t seem to notice that the ropes on his wrist were loose. 

Clemmons was brought up to the door. “So how do I do it?” 

“It’s simple. Just think of a place you’d like to go and then open the door. But don’t try to escape. I have your hands tied.”

“Ok, but how am I supposed to actually open the door with my hands tied behind me?” 

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but you survived hands off day. Use your mouth.”

Clemmons lowered his face and brought it closer to the handle. He tried controlling his breathing because he knew what he was going to do. He quickly released his hands, grabbed the doorknob and slammed the door in Tippy’s face. He fell from the impact and was left unconscious. Clemmons opened the door, using his power to travel back to the closet at the ball. The crowd gasped as he emerged and quickly closed the door behind him. Bob came running towards him. 

“Clemmons! Are you alright?” Bob grabbed Clemmons shoulders and looked at him.

“Yes, I’m alright, but we don’t have much time. I don’t think Tippy will be knocked out for too long.”

Clemmons looked up at the crowd and raised his voice so everyone could hear.

“Everyone! Paradoors is real!”

The crowd gasped, but at least everyone seemed to believe Clemmons this time. 

“Long story short, only I have the power to open the door to get there. That’s why Tippy kidnapped me! He wanted to force me to open it. But I’m not going to let Tippy take any of us to Paradoors! I’ve knocked him out, but that won’t hold him for much longer. I learned that Tippy and I also have door teleportation powers. I can use those powers to evacuate the whole city somewhere Tippy doesn’t know about!”

People in the crowd turned to each other in shock. Tom Bennett spoke up. “Whoa, slow down there Clemmons. Evacuate the whole city? Aren’t you overreacting?”

“Guys, you’ve all seen what lengths Tippy is willing to go to force us into Paradoors! There’s no telling what he’ll do next, and I don’t think any of us are safe anymore. And now that we know that Paradoors is real, we can’t let him win! Our normal lives are at stake! Now, does anyone have any evacuation suggestions? Tippy will wake up any moment!”

The crowd was silent for a moment until Harl emerged from the crowd. 

“I know of a place. It’s in my junkyard. Cluster has a bunch of secret underground tunnels and hatches. Tippy doesn’t know of that place.” 

Clemmons felt an unusual sense of bravery and determination overcome him.

“Good. Everyone! Through this door! We need to be safe from Tippy!” Clemmons opened the closet door that led to Cluster's underground hatches. The crowd came shuffling in, some of them shoving more than others to get through the door. Finally, everyone made their way through, except Duke who was still standing in the room. 

“Duke, hurry! We don’t have much time.” 

Duke snapped out of it and ran through the door. Clemmons scanned the room and didn’t see anyone else in the empty room, so he closed the door. The first thing Clemmons saw was Duke standing there looking uneasy. 

“I can’t believe I put my trust in Tippy, and he turned on me again.” Clemmons heard anger in Duke’s voice that he never expected to hear.

“What did he do to you?” Duke said to Clemmons as he had slightly teary eyes. 

Clemmons had never expected to see Duke cry, Clemmons had always thought of him as a tough yet happy guy. Tippy’s betrayal must be hurting him.

Clemmons said, “Well you know, he captured me, and he told me I was the key to Paradoors. But I won’t let him use me.” 

Their conversation was interrupted by a tiny old prospector that came marching up to Clemmons.

“Wha in the name of porcupines is going on!? Why is everybody in my secret hatches?” 

Clemmons looked down at Cluster who clearly wasn’t happy. He had his hands on his waist.

“I’m sorry Cluster, it was an emergency. We are hiding from Tippy who is trying to take us to Paradoors. We needed a place to hide.”

Cluster spit a little as he spoke.“Alright fine. Only ‘cause it’s an emergency. But nobody better be snoopin around lookin fer my treasure!”

“Thank you, Cluster.” Clemmons looked around, at everyone who was still shaken from everything that had happened. 

Carol emerged from the crowd and approached Clemmons, looking distressed. 

“Please Clemmons, get my daughter. I had her at the McCloud’s house to babysit her. I need her to be safe with me!” She was clearly worrying.

“Of course I’ll get Madison, I will get everyone.”

* * *

Ok here's the links to the comic! I had to split this chapter into 3 parts cause it was so long! so here's all 3 parts to this chapter

[Mayor's Ball Comic Part 1](https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/unhinged-lego-city-adventures-/the-mayors-ball-/viewer?title_no=494772&episode_no=5)

[Mayor's Ball Comic Part 2](https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/unhinged-lego-city-adventures-/the-mayors-ball-pt-2/viewer?title_no=494772&episode_no=6)

[Mayor's Ball Comic Part 3](https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/unhinged-lego-city-adventures-/the-mayors-ball-pt-3/viewer?title_no=494772&episode_no=7)


	5. Hidden Away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are no comics to go along with this chapter :(

Clemmons was walking around the abandoned fire station alone. At least, he hoped he was alone. Tippy may be around here somewhere, but Clemmons was crossing his fingers that he wouldn’t run into him. 

He missed this place. Even if it had only been a week since he last been here. The fire station was almost always busy. Usually quiet time in the station would be a good sign, but now it just was unsettling. Clemmons walked by his office and saw a limbo stick propped against a wall. It wasn’t too long ago since he had won the limbo contest. He learned he had some sort of special talent to bend over low. That was a hidden ability Clemmons was actually happy to have; finding out about his other hidden ability, door powers, was what triggered this whole crisis. He kind of resented his powers because of that. 

Clemmons looked at his desk. It still held scorch marks from the time it accidentally caught on fire a while ago. He opened a drawer in his desk and found a glamorous pair of sunglasses. It was the same ones that Bob had tried on in the store awhile ago. Clemmons had gone back to the store after that trip and bought the sunglasses himself. He had stored them in his desk drawer, saving them for today, specifically. He grabbed them and put them in his jacket. 

Ever since they had evacuated into Cluster’s underground hatches over a week ago. Clemmons had successfully evacuated the whole city into the underground, leaving the buildings abandoned. Once everyone was safe, most everyone had an outfit change, including Clemmons. Those who came straight from the ball in their fancy clothes had been especially eager to change into something more comfortable. Clemmons himself was wearing a black head band and a bandanna over his mouth. This was so hopefully he could be somewhat undercover. He had a red jacket with a black undershirt. His pants were ripped and he had combat boots. He normally wouldn’t want to wear something like this, but everyone was sold that they must wear “apocalyptic” clothes to intimidate Tippy. 

Even though he wished he could stay longer, it wasn’t safe. He walked to the office doors and opened them. Next thing he knew he was in the bunker that had been made in the hatches. A crowd came and gathered around him. They did this just about every time Clemmons came back from gathering supplies.

“Did you get my mustache brush?” It was Matt Finish.

“No… I only got essentials.”

Matt scoffed.“That is essential.” 

Before Clemmons could say anything else Hacksaw Hank spoke.

“Did you get my hacksaw?” 

Clemmons was getting annoyed. “What do you not understand about “essentials”?” He started walking away from the growing crowd.

“What about my chainsaw? You at least got that?” 

Clemmons didn’t respond. He walked away and left the crowd. With each passing day the citizens became more and more antsy. Clemmons understood that they were not in an ideal situation, but their growing discontent only soured his mood. Besides, there wasn’t much he could do right now. The town could live a while without their toys, but they couldn’t live without food and water, and he was worn out after a long day of gathering those essential supplies from the abandoned city. 

He rubbed his eyes and walked to a more empty corner of the large bunker. Bob was already there, and his eyes lit up when he saw Clemmons. “Oh good, you’re back. Where in the world were you? You should never leave the bunker alone! Especially with Tippy looking for you!” 

“Sorry for making you worry. I just had to grab something important.” Clemmons reached for the sunglasses in his jacket, but he was interrupted by Vito standing on a crate. 

“This is an outrage! Are we really gonna be stuck in here bored out of our minds?!” The crowd turned and looked at Vito. They looked back and forth at each other as Vito continued.

“What’s stopping us from going back up to the surface and going back to our normal lives?!” 

Hank gingerly raised his hand. “Uh...Tippy?” Big Betty nodded next to him. 

Vito smiled.“But see, Tippy wants only one thing: Clemmons. He doesn’t care about the rest of us. Why should we let Clemmons dictate what we can and can’t do?” 

Clemmons froze as the city turned around and stared at him, muttering. Everyone’s attention was averted by the sound of a huge hatch door opening. Mayor Fleck, Carol, Wheeler, Harl, Freya, and Duke entered the room. They had set aside a separate room where they could create a plan to stop Tippy. The group was exclusive to those five people alongside Clemmons and Bob. Clemmons was sure the only reason he was being involved in the planning process was because he was the one who actually had door powers. He knew next to nothing about how to strategize, much less put plans into action. 

Duke stopped in front of the dissenting crowd. His outfit change was especially notable. He was no longer wearing his suit from the ball, instead switching it out for his blue undershirt and darker blue pants. A brown leather pouch hooked onto his thigh, and his signature sunglasses shaded his eyes. Most striking was the black cape that flowed down to his ankles.

Duke adjusted his sunglasses and addressed the crowd. “What’s going on here?” 

Vito narrowed his eyes at Duke.“Oh yeah Duke? What’s been going on with _you_? What’s the plan? It’s been over a week and you and your friends have been awfully quiet. Something tells me you don’t even have any plan.” 

The crowd started exchanging suspicious glances, whispering under their breath. 

Duke stepped forward.“I assure you, we are working on a plan.”

Vito raised his eyebrow. “Yeah? Well, what is it?” 

Duke started to sweat, but he said nothing. 

Vito put his hands on his waist.“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Well if you don’t have a plan, then there is only one plan. Mine.” 

Big Betty looked right at Vito who was towering over everyone on the crate.“Well, what’s your plan?” 

Vito pointed at Clemmons.“Him. He’s the only thing Tippy wants. We wouldn’t be in this mess if it wasn’t for him!” 

Some people in the crowd voiced their agreement, turning to glare at Clemmons. Clemmons shrank under their withering glances. Vito continued.

“I say we go back to the surface and live our normal lives. Tippy’s not after us, so we’ll be fine.” 

More and more people were rallying behind Vito. Things were going too far. Clemmons had to say something. “Guys we need this bunker to be safe! We won’t be safe up there! Tippy could take advantage of any one of us.” 

Vito was stone cold. “We? I think it’s just you.” 

The crowd’s mood became more and more unfriendly. Clemmons was scared of a lot of things, but being at the center of attention was not one of them. However, when all that attention was negative attention… He started shaking. 

Vito raised his voice even more as he talked.“You are being selfish! None of us need to be here! You only care about your own safety! You’re probably afraid we’ll snitch to Tippy if you let us go!”

Clemmons gulped. Did the citizens think he distrusted them? He felt more alone now than he ever felt on the abandoned surface. He opened his mouth to try and say something in his defense, but nothing came out. Maybe they were right. Maybe he was being selfish. After all, no one would be in this mess if it wasn’t for him opening the Mars door in the first place. 

“Well then what do you suggest I do?” he said in a small voice.

Vito responded in his low scratchy voice.

“Turn yourself in to Tippy.” 

Clemmons was dumbfounded. “Then what? He’ll use me to open the door to Paradoors. All our lives will change forever!” 

“Well maybe Paradoors is better than this place.” The crowd gasped at Vito. He continued. “I mean… at least there we could see the sunlight and have our own rooms!” 

The crowd was split. Many were arguing Paradoors would be horrible. Others were saying it would be better than living together in this sparse bunker for who knows how long, hanging out with absolutely nothing to do. Sweat knitted Clemmons’ forehead. He felt completely unsure of what to do.

Freya, who was standing next to Duke got on a crate and spoke.

“Everyone listen up!” Freya’s loud voice ran through the bunker. Everyone stopped and faced her.

“We didn’t want to tell you this because it won't be ready until a few more weeks, but we are working with Dr. Wexler and Dr. Ravenhurst to create a gadget that will track energy signatures. With it we’ll be able to track Tippy and stop him. Now that I’ve told you the plan, leave Clemmons alone. Don’t forget, he’s been selflessly using his door powers to gather enough food and supplies for this whole city. Besides, he’s already got enough to worry about.” 

The crowd seemed somewhat satisfied with this response and their arguments died down. Clemmons shot Freya a grateful look. Freya smiled warmly back at him.

Someone in the crowd voiced their opinion. “A few weeks?” 

Freya changed the subject. A Tippy tracker was definitely in the works, but the part about it being ready in a few weeks had only been a bluff meant to calm everyone down, and she didn’t want the citizens to catch onto that. “I can see that everyone here is bored. We should do something. Something fun! Anybody have suggestions?” 

The crowd looked at each other and shrugged. Until Poppy Starr piped up.

“I could perform. We could have an underground concert! I brought my guitar! I never leave home without it!” 

Nate in the background was really excited. He had no way to listen to The Loud Song; everyone knew it was slowly making him go insane. 

Freya was still not sold on that idea. “That’s a good idea, but we need to keep quiet in here. We don’t want to risk Tippy hearing us. Can you play it quietly?” 

Poppy raises her eyebrows. “I mean, one of my songs _is_ called The Loud Song. Not to mention one of my concerts was so loud it totally ruined my grandpa’s magician club. Sorry, but it’s not physically possible for me to play it quietly.” 

The crowd let out a disappointed sigh. 

Freya wasn't going to let that completely take away their fun.“Well does anyone else know how to play the guitar? Quietly?” 

It was silent except for an awkward cough. Everyone seemed to be giving up hope and accepting that they would have yet another boring day. That is, until Daisy shoved Snake in front of the crowd. 

Freya looked down at Snake and smiled. “You play?” 

Snake lowered his hat to cover his embarrassed face.“I may know a few songs.” 

The crowd started to light up. Freya shifted her weight on one foot.“Would you mind if you played something for us?”

“I don’t play for anyone.” Disappointed sighs filled the room until Daisy walked up to Snake and put her arm around him.

“What he means is he doesn’t play for anyone for free.” She winked at Snake.

Freya sighed and pulled out a 50 dollar bill.

“Is this enough for you Snake?” 

Snake’s expression didn’t change. “Double that.” 

Freya let out a sound of annoyance and reached in her pocket, but before she could pull out more money, Duke offered a 50 dollar bill. Snake took the two bills and straightened out the wrinkles.

“I suppose this is enough for a few songs. But I’m going to need a guitar.”

Poppy approached. “You can totally use mine!” She handed Snake her pink guitar and smiled in a way that slightly wrinkled the heart on her cheek.

Snake looked at the Poppy and her guitar in disgust, but before he could say anything, Daisy took the guitar.

“Snake would love to play with your guitar.” She looked at Snake and gave him a mischievous smile. 

He shook his head and sighed. “Fine.” 

Snake walked over to a corner to tune the guitar. Mayor Fleck turned to Freya and whispered, “It’s almost time for lights out…”

Freya softly put her hand on his shoulder “Let them have this.” 

The Mayor backed up as the crowd started setting up crates to sit on, situating them around Snake. Daisy set up some firewood like a teepee near Snake. Once Snake successfully tuned the guitar, he gently strummed a few chords. 

Snake was full of surprises, and this was certainly one of them. Clemmons was impressed with the way Snake played. He had such a gentle touch, it was truly soothing. Daisy got the fire going, then sat on the same crate Snake was sitting on. The whole city settled down and listened to the guitar. 

Clemmons sat on a crate opposite Snake's. The fire crackled in front of him. Fires usually scared him, but if it was controlled, it was ok. If anything, it was a little calming. Bob came and sat down by Clemmons on top of the crate. The only sounds were the fire crackling and the soft strumming of the guitar. Bob held Clemmons’ hand and just as he did that Clemmons remembered the sunglasses in his coat.

“Bob, I have something for you.” He reached in his coat and grabbed the sunglasses. Bob’s eyes lit up as he recognized the object.

“Are those the sunglasses from the store? How did you...?” 

Clemmons handed over the sunglasses. “Happy Birthday.” 

Bob smiled and hugged Clemmons.

“How does it feel to be 3 decades old?” Clemmons asked. “I wouldn’t know because I still have 4 more years.” 

He squeezed Clemmons tighter.“It feels great.” They let go and continued listening to Snake play the guitar. 

Snake paused his playing.“Does anyone have any requests?” 

Nate shot up his hand.“The Loud Song!” 

Freya looked at Nate and Snake with concern, but when Snake started playing a gentle version of the Loud Song, she relaxed. 

Daisy leaned over to Snake and whispered in his ear. “I didn’t know you knew The Loud Song.” 

He shrugged and continued playing. The whole town seemed to be at peace, they hadn’t had that at all since they evacuated. It was quite a contrast to the ruckus they had caused only a short time earlier. “I’m glad everyone finally calmed down.” 

Bob turned to Clemmons. “I’m sorry the city gave you a hard time. I should have defended you.”

Clemmons smiled. “That’s ok Bob. I know it’s hard for you to speak up in front of crowds.”

Bob looked down at the floor. “That’s no excuse when you were being unfairly singled out.” He shook his head. “Anyways, are you good now?”

If Clemmons was being honest, he still felt lingering anxiety about things the people had said to him, but he didn’t want to talk about it now. “Yeah. Don’t worry about it. I think the city was just high strung because of all that’s happened.”

They fell into silence. As the night wore on, Clemmons’ head started bobbing as he tried to fight sleep. It had been a long day. Actually make that a long week. He shot up when he heard footsteps in front of him. He looked up and saw it was Vito.

Vito slicked back his hair. “I’m not one to give out apologies, but I take back the things I said. I was bored, and that just might be something more dangerous than Tippy.” 

Clemmons tiredly smiled at Vito.“I accept your apology.” 

Vito had his hands in his pockets. He nodded then walked off. 

The soothing music was lulling him to sleep, as was the warmth of the fire. Clemmons had never stopped to really notice the positive qualities of fire. He was usually too busy screaming and panicking. Finally, he gave up the fight and fell asleep on Bob’s shoulder.


	6. Bait

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok just a warning with this chapter, I do mention death. It did happen a while ago in this story and it's of an "OC" character, but It's not descriptive at all. It also doesn't happen "on screen", the characters only mention that it happened a bit ago. I just wanted to warn y'all to be extra safe. Anyways, the comics are at the end of the chapter, but I highly recommend you read it first!

Clemmons was in an abandoned store. All the lights were off. He snuck around grabbing some cans off the shelf when he heard a loud crash. Clemmons jumped, then realized who caused the sound.

“Bob! Be careful! We need to be discreet. We don’t want Tippy to find us.” 

Bob looked like he was carrying more cans then he could hold. “Sorry, I just want to make sure we have enough food for everyone. Going hungry would be the worst. We don’t know exactly how long we’ll be in hiding until the Tippy tracker is finished.” 

Clemmons went over to Bob and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. 

“I’m worried too.” They stood there for a bit. Moments like these made it easier for Clemmons to forget just how terrible everything was. 

“We should get back. We don’t want to be on the surface too long,” Clemmons said.

Clemmons went to a door in the store and opened it to the secret underground hatches. As soon as Clemmons emerged a crowd came over to him, just like always. It was like Clemmons was a famous actor at an autograph signing convention.

“Clemmons, could you please get my son’s twirly hat?”

“Clemmons, we've been here two weeks! I need my TV! I’m so bored!”

“Clemmons! I need you to get my reading glasses!” 

Dynamo Doug was also there. “I need my intense roller skates!” 

Clemmons looked at everyone, overwhelmed. Luckily the people no longer demanded to leave, but that didn’t help their boredom. He wished he could get entertainment for them, but he couldn’t get everything that everyone wanted. After everyone ganged up on him last week, they seemed to be nicer to him, at least. Maybe they pitied him, or maybe they just wanted to bribe him into getting their items for them. Even if they were being nicer, Clemmons still could do without the constant demands. After he went through all the effort of getting supplies, the people still swarmed him with requests, never seeming satisfied. Bob saw how stressed Clemmons was getting. He took over.

“Everyone! Clemmons and I just got the essentials. It’s up to you guys to entertain yourselves. Just talk to each other, that will be entertaining.” 

The crowd let out a sound of annoyance and dispersed. Clemmons smiled at Bob. He had noticed that Bob was getting better at speaking up in front of the crowds, and he was glad Bob was overcoming his fear. He knew firsthand how hard that could be. The sound of a hatch opening got everyone’s attention again. Duke emerged from the door and just as he did so, the crowd came and surrounded him.

“When will we be getting out?”

“What plan are you guys coming up with?”

Gabby ToCamera came out with an empty can that she was pretending was a microphone.

“Do you guys even have a plan? Some say that a Tippy tracker is not possible.” 

Duke ignored everyone and looked at Clemmons. “Clemmons, could I speak with you?” 

Clemmons squeezed his way through the crowd alongside Bob and followed Duke back through the hatch door. They closed the door behind them, cutting off the sounds of the crowd, making the room much quieter. Clemmons looked at the center of the room at a long table, where Freya, Mayor Fleck, Carol, Wheeler, and Harl already sat, waiting. Duke looked at Bob and Clemmons.

“Bob, Clemmons please take a seat.” 

Clemmons sat at the head of the table, with Bob and Freya next to him. In the middle of the table was Fleck and Carol. Duke sat at the other end of the table with Harl and Wheeler next to him. Duke was the first one to speak.

“Truth be told, we are struggling to come up with a plan to stop Tippy. The tracker to track Tippy’s power is being put on hold because there is a problem. We need to come in contact with him to calibrate the machine. He has door powers, so he could be anywhere.” He then looked at Clemmons. “I mean so do you, but he’s looking for you. But see, if we use you as bait...” Duke trailed off, putting a finger on his chin.

“Oh come on Duke, we’ve discussed this.” It was Freya who spoke. “We are not using Clemmons as bait.” 

Clemmons knew Freya was only trying to protect him. And she was right to do so. The idea terrified him. At the same time, he was tired of sitting around. So many ideas had already been shut down before they even got anywhere. At this rate, Tippy would find them before they came up with another good idea. Besides, the people had been promised a Tippy tracker, and if that failed, who knew how the citizens would take it. Clemmons caused all this. If there was a simple solution, even if it put him at risk, he felt he had to take it. He had to be brave. It was the least he owed the city. 

He stood up from his seat. “Well if that’s what you guys need, then use me as bait.” 

Freya put her hand on Clemmons’s arm and gently pulled at him to sit down. “That won’t be necessary. We’ll think of something else.” 

Clemmons stood up again. “Freya, we have no time! You of all people should know that.” 

She was a bit shocked by his harshness. But it was a tense situation. Freya looked at Clemmons, very worried. “We can’t risk you, Clemmons.” 

Bob shared Freya’s concerned look. “I agree with Freya.”

This was going nowhere. Why couldn’t they understand this was his choice to make, not theirs? Clemmons stood up and started walking towards the door.

“Well, maybe you guys should reconsider. It would work! We wouldn’t be in this mess if it wasn’t for me!” Clemmons opened the door and stormed out. 

He forgot about the crowd that was waiting to storm him. Thankfully he had a distraction.

“I forgot, I happened to pick up a music player when I was out.” He threw it at the crowd. “Please don’t fight over it.” 

The crowd followed the flying music player like a hungry wolf pack would follow a fresh piece of meat. 

Clemmons walked down a tunnel alone. He thought of the times when fire was his biggest issue. Just two weeks ago, that had been all he had to worry about. Now, he felt trapped. He couldn’t just put out these problems as simply as he could douse a flame. This Tippy problem was taking weeks to put out, and Clemmons felt guilty that he was no closer to fixing it than he had been when they first evacuated. On the bright side, it sounded like Cluster was working on building an improved bunker for the city. Maybe that would finally satisfy them. Wanting to touch base with Cluster, Clemmons kept walking until he saw him. 

“Hello, Cluster!” 

Cluster jumped.“Son of a horse radish!” Cluster looked up at Clemmons who was quite a bit taller than him.“Whatcha’ doin here boy?” 

“I wanted to see how things were going with the new secret bunker. I want it to be extra safe. We are going to have to stay in there until we find a good plan.”

“Yeah, it’s coming along fine n’ dandy. It should be ready tomarra.”

At least one thing was working out. “Great! Can I see the progress?”

“Never you mind! It has to be extra secret and safe. No one can see it ‘til it’s ready. You get to see it tommarra.”

“Ok, Cluster. Thank you again for letting us use your hatches to hideout in.” 

Cluster broke eye contact. “Yea, well it was an emergency.” He blinked as he looked up at Clemmons’ expression.

“What’s botherin’ you? Why the long face?”

Clemmons sighed before he poured out his response. “Well I learned that in order for us to catch Tippy, I’ve gotta be used as bait. All I want is to help my city and to defeat Tippy, but I can’t help being scared. I’m literally scared all the time.” 

Cluster sat down on the hard floor of the bunker and motioned for Clemmons to sit by him. 

“Fear is a weird thing aint it?”

Clemmons sat down by the tiny prosecutor and looked down at the ground. “Yeah, life would be but easier without it.”

Cluster responded. “It seems, doesn't it? But fear, like other emotions, serves a purpose. It protects us. Fear is always goin’ to be a part of us. It’s not our responsibility to get rid of it, but to control it.”

Clemmons couldn’t help but disagree. If he didn’t have fear, then he could do his job properly as a fireman. If he wasn’t afraid, then maybe they would’ve caught Tippy by now. “But Cluster, if I were to stop feeling fear then we would be out of here.”

Cluster looked at Clemmons earnestly. It seemed that this topic was something he had thought a lot about. “Trust me boy, you don’t want to resist your fear. Ya see, when you resist it, you’re actually bein’ afraid of bein’ afraid. And when you try to resist that fear, you act irrationally by creating a paradox. The best thing you can do is to accept it and try to manage it.”

Cluster spoke those words with lots of emotion. It shocked Clemmons to see how wise he was. “Do you speak from experience?”

“Not mine, but my son’s.”

Clemmons blinked in surprise. He didn’t know that Cluster had a son. He never heard about him before.

“My boy, Clyde, was an adventure seeker. He was particularly curious in treasure huntin’. We went to this city ‘cause we heard about some famous hidden treasure beneath this here junkyard. His adventuring qualities made him seem fearless. However, he was only afraid of one thing: fear. But he denied it. By doing so, he acted recklessly trying to prove that fear wasn’t a part of him. Four years ago he tried to prove it, but he learned the hard way that it’s impossible.”

Cluster looked down at the ground as he thought about the past. 

“Cluster, I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”

“It’s ok boy, it feels good to give others advice. I only wish I could’ve given them to Clyde.” Cluster paused before he continued. “But that's why I’ve gotta find that treasure. It was the last thing we did together. We promised each other that we’d find it, and I intended on keeping my promise.” He looked very sorrowful.

“I’m sorry, but could you give me a moment alone?” 

Clemmons nodded and stood up. He understood why things would be hard for him. He couldn’t even begin to imagine how painful that’d be. He now knew what he wanted to do with the whole bait situation. In reality he was terrified of being bait. He was afraid for his own safety, but what if he got caught? Nobody in the city would be safe. It was important for Clemmons to accept his fear. Plus maybe his fear had a point in this case? Maybe it was ok if he didn’t actually want to become bait.

Clemmons continued walking until he found his way back to the main room where most of the citizens hung out. There was a crowd circling around something, chanting loudly. Clemmons got closer.

“Fight! Fight! Fight!” 

“Hey! I said no fighting!” Clemmons quickly pushed his way in the crowd to see who was fighting.

Rivera and Snake Rattler sat across from each other, gripping each other's hands. The crate between them supported their arms.

Rivera looked up at Clemmons. “We aren’t fighting, we are arm wrestling for the music player!”

Sarah, who stood off to the side, looked defeated and spoke up.“Yeah, and it’s hardly fair.”

Rivera looked at her.“It actually is fair. I need the music player to help me with my workouts.” Rivera looked back at Snake.“Anyways, are you ready?”

Snake nodded in response. 

Dynamo Doug emerged. “Alright, on “go”, you guys will start your intense arm wrestle!”

“3!” Rivera looked at Snake and gave him a competitive smile.

“2!” Snake gave her a smug smirk as he chewed on a toothpick.

“1!” The crowd waited on the edge of their seats.

“Go!” 

Both Rivera and Snake strained against each other. The crowd cheered. Both sides seemed evenly matched, and they were breaking up a sweat. This stalemate went on for about a minute, until Rivera slammed Snake’s arm against the crate. Rivera stood up in her victory, grinning widely.

“Ha! Looks like the music player is all mine!” 

Snake lowered his hat to cover his eyes, Daisy was laughing hysterically somewhere in the crowd. After Rivera had claimed her music player, the crowd dispersed as they tried to find other ways to entertain themselves. Snake stood up, still looking smug and whispered something to Daisy. 

Everyone turned their heads as they saw Fleck, Freya, Harl, Wheeler, Bob, Carol, and Duke emerge from the meeting room. Before anyone could come and storm them, Mayor Fleck spoke up.

“Citizens, thank you for your patience while we work things out. But it’s 10 P.M., so it’s time for lights out.” 

The city whined like a bunch of pouty children when bedtime rolled around, but they eventually settled in, grabbing their sleeping bags from the cubbies that lined the walls. Harl had been gracious enough to build those. The citizens found places to sleep among the ground and unrolled their sleeping bags. Clemmons ran to get his sleeping bag and unrolled it in his usual spot by the fire crew. Clemmons quickly got in and closed his eyes. It was strategic to be the first one asleep because with the whole city sharing one room, no one wanted to deal with the snorers as they tried to fall asleep. He closed his eyes and started to drift off, until he felt wind of someone unrolling their sleeping bag next to Clemmons. Clemmons knew without opening his eyes that it was Bob. He always placed his sleeping bag next to his. Clemmons heard Bob get settled in.

“I know you’re not asleep,” Bob said. “No one on earth can sleep that fast, not even Tom Bennett at the theatre.” 

Clemmons opened his eyes and saw Bob was looking at him.

“Hey, I’m worried about you...”

Clemmons was confused. “Why?”

Bob gave him an understanding smile. “This is not your fault. You have been very good at adapting to the leader position. I could never do that.”

Clemmons was surprised. Bob was one of the most responsible people he knew. If anyone would make a great leader, it was him. “Of course you could Bob.”

He signed. “No, and definitely not the way you do it. But please don’t be so harsh on yourself, you don’t deserve any of this.”

Clemmons made eye contact with Bob. “Only if you aren’t too harsh on yourself.” 

Bob took his hand out of his sleeping bag and placed it by Clemmons. 

“Deal.” 

Clemmons slipped his hand out of his sleeping bag and held Bob’s hand. Clemmons laid there, staring at the ceiling. He wished he could see the stars. It had been so long since he’d been aboveground at night and seen the night sky. But now the stars shined on no one except Tippy. 

What was Tippy doing at this very moment? Was he still scheming late into the night? Was he dreaming about the moment when Paradoors would finally be in his reach again? Clemmons sank further into his sleeping bag, imagining Tippy lurking in the shadows, waiting to kidnap him as soon as he fell asleep. He remembered what CLuster had told him earlier. The best thing he could do right now was to accept that he was afraid and try to control it. Maybe talking about it would help? Clemmons couldn’t tell if Bob had fallen asleep yet, but he couldn’t help but say something.

“Hey Bob...” 

Bob sounded tired. “Yes, Clemmons?”

“I don’t want to be bait.”

Bob turned his head on his pillow and looked at Clemmons.

“I’ll make sure that you’re not. We will think of something else.” 

Bob’s comforting tone helped calm Clemmons. His eye lids became very heavy as he drifted asleep.

* * *

Clemmons was awoken by the sound of a girl screaming. He was still holding hands with Bob, but he shot up and looked to see who was in danger. At that point the whole city woke up and looked around to see what the trouble was. Rivera stood up, her clothes drenched in orange soda. 

“Hey! Snake Rattler planted a soda in my sleeping bag! Not cool!” 

Snake and Daisy were spectating far off, but it was obvious that they were chuckling. 

“Good thing my music player still works.” Soda dripped from her face and clothes, and her sleeping bag had been tossed aside, the interior an orange mess. 

Harl, who was already awake, stepped forward. “I can help!” 

Harl grabbed her sleeping bag and started scrubbing at it. He also found Rivera a fresh pair of clothes. Crisis averted. 

Clemmons rubbed his eyes and stretched. He got up, rolled up his sleeping bag and put it in his cubby. Other people followed the same routine. Clemmons couldn’t see Duke, Freya, Fleck, Carol, or Wheeler anywhere and assumed they were in a meeting. Clemmons was so distracted that he didn’t notice that Bob also disappeared. 

A moment later, he came back with two cans in his hands. “I got you breakfast. Shirley almost didn’t let me take two cans because she takes her job seriously as the rationer.” 

Clemmons took a can. “Thanks.” 

Bob and Clemmons sat by each other on top of a crate. Bob ate the baked beans, but Clemmons sat there. He didn’t have much of an appetite. The weight of their situation pressed down on him yet again.

Bob noticed Clemmons hadn’t touched his food. “Is something bothering you?” 

Clemmons sighed and put down his can next to him. “I often wish I could go back in time and make sure I never opened that door.”

“Aw, Clemmons, you had no idea!” 

Clemmons got a little teary eyed. “Is it awful that I wish it was someone else? Why me?” 

Bob scooted closer and put his arm around. Clemmons started crying, but then started laughing. Bob looked confused.

“It’s crazy to think not too long ago I was crying and panicking because of my job. Now, I’m crying because I apparently have door powers, and the entire city depends on me.”

Bob brought Clemmons’ head closer to him, until he rested on Bob’s shoulder. “You are not alone Clemmons. I am not going to leave you.” 

They sat there for a moment. Clemmons wished he could hit pause and never move from Bob. 

Bob finally spoke as he was slowly stroking Clemmons shoulder. “You should eat. You need to be ready for another journey to get supplies.”

Clemmons sat up and picked up his canned beans, but before he could eat it he heard Cluster's voice ringing through the underground room. 

“Listen up!” Everyone shifted their attention to Cluster. “I just got done with this here safe bunker! It’s ready for everyone to get in. Everyone even get der own room!”

The crowd cheered, but kept their volume low. Duke heard the commotion and came out of the meeting room. “What’s going on?” 

It was Hacksaw who responded. “Cluster finished the new Bunker! We all get our own rooms!” 

Hacksaw and the other citizens hurried their way down a hallway to the newly built bunker, being guided by Cluster. The people in the meeting room joined them. In a surprisingly short time, most of the city had entered the new bunker. Clemmons, Bob and a few others had trailed behind. They made their way into the bunker, but Cluster stopped Clemmons.

“You shouldn’t go in der! You gotta stay out here and guard the place!” 

Clemmons stopped, disappointed as the remaining people gathered inside, including Bob. Once they were all in, Cluster closed the large steel hatch door, and Clemmons peered through the bulletproof window.

Hacksaw scanned the large bunker but looked disappointed.“Where are our rooms? This just looks like one really large room.” 

Clemmons noticed that Cluster was trembling. “There are no separate rooms.” 

Hacksaw looked annoyed. “Well what’s the point? Come on everyone! Let’s go back to the other bunker!” 

Cluster locked the large door. Everyone looked confused.

“Hey! Let us out!” 

Clemmons looked at Cluster, horrified. “What are you doing? Why did you tell them there are separate rooms, then lock them out?” 

Cluster looked down at the ground.

“Sorry, boy.” 

Suddenly, Clemmons felt hands grabbing him from behind. It was Tippy. 

Terror seized him, and he desperately tried to struggle out of Tippy’s grasp or even yell out for help. But Tippy clasped his hand over his mouth, and held him firm. Duke made his way to the window of the door and yelled.

“Tippy! Let him go!”

Tippy only glared at Duke, he didn’t say anything. And as quickly as Tippy came, he was gone with Clemmons. 

Harl then emerged to the front and looked at Cluster, who turned his back.“Cluster, why did you do this?”

Cluster didn’t turn around. He couldn’t even look Harl in the eye as he betrayed him.

“Sorry, Harl. Tippy said he’d use his door powers to help me find the treasure. I need that treasure.” 

Harl banged at the door. “Please Cluster! Would your son really want you to do this!?”

“It’s too late.”

Cluster then walked off from the bunker that the whole city was locked in. Harl was still banging and yelling at the door, long after they had left. Duke held Harl tightly to try to calm him down, but even he could think of no words of comfort.

* * *

Whoo! crazy chapter! Anyways here's the links to the comic version.

[Bait Comic Part 1](https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/unhinged-lego-city-adventures-/bait/viewer?title_no=494772&episode_no=8)

[Bait Comic Part 2](https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/unhinged-lego-city-adventures-/bait-pt-2/viewer?title_no=494772&episode_no=9)


	7. Salvation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heads up... this chapter is kinda... dark. This chapter was definitely the main one of concern of how I should rate it just cause it's a bit sad and dark. But I'm here warning you now! And just like always, the link to the comic is at the end.

Clemmons sat, tied up in the same interrogation room, alone. He tried once more to struggle out of the ropes, but it was no use. Tippy must have tied them extra tight to prevent him from escaping again. Tippy himself was nowhere to be seen, and the suspense was killing him. 

How had he let this happen? He should’ve known that Cluster was suspicious. Of course he had a reason to betray everyone, but it still wasn’t the right thing to do. This was all Clemmons’ fault.

Anxiety churned his stomach. What was taking Tippy so long? What was he planning to do with Clemmons? The longer he was left to his thoughts, the more panicked he felt. Maybe he should just give in to Tippy before he did anything to him. Maybe it would be easier that way.

Clemmons shook his head. No, he couldn’t give in now. He couldn’t let his fears overtake him. He pictured the citizens, who he’d let down so many times before. He pictured Mayor Fleck, Wheeler, Carol, Harl, Duke, Freya and Bob, who’d stood by him anyway. Their lives and safety were at stake, and Clemmons was their last hope. 

No matter what Tippy did to him, he had to resist. He had to be brave.

Tippy finally came back, but this time he wore a new master criminal outfit. His aura was much scarier than it had been before. Last time, Tippy had seemed calm and somewhat negotiable. There was none of that calmness this time. Tippy didn’t say anything, he just paced back and forth in front of the table Clemmons was sitting at. Clemmons struggled futilely as Tippy paced. Tippy finally spoke in a quiet shaky voice. 

“Open the door.”

Clemmons tried to stop his shaking. “Tippy, I already told you. I don’t want to. You can’t just force people into Paradoors and expect them to be happy.” 

Tippy slammed his hands against the table, causing Clemmons to flinch. “They WILL be happy! I know what’s best!” 

Tippy was trying to intimidate him, but he resisted. “How did you even find us in the first place?”

The table was still shaking from Tippy’s impact. “Door powers also give us the power to hear conversations behind any doors. And, conveniently, you and your city were very willing to talk around doors. You weren’t aware of this ability because you are a disgrace with your powers.” 

Clemmons couldn’t help but agree in his mind.

Clemmons once again noticed Tippy’s new master criminal outfit. It looked nearly identical to his last one except he had a cape that almost reached the floor, plus he didn’t have his mask. Everyone knew that it was him.

“Why do you have a criminal outfit on? I thought you said you were trying to clear your name. I think that outfit and your actions give the opposite effect.” 

Tippy quietly chuckled and shook his head. “There was no fixing my image. Everyone was so sold on me being a criminal that I’ve decided to embrace it. Your city has given me no choice but to become a criminal to fulfil my purpose, and so be it. I would rather be a lone hero and bring forth Paradoors than fix my image.”

Clemmons challenged Tippy. “Would a hero really kidnap and terrorize a whole city?”

Tippy got close to Clemmons. “It’s all for the greater good. Everything I’ve ever done was for the greater good. All of my crimes will become irrelevant in Paradoors. Everyone will be happy!” Tippy smiled a bit at the thought of Paradoors. He looked deep in thought.

“You are wrong.” 

Tippy stopped smiling and looked directly at Clemmons. “I never thought you to be the assertive type. What changed?”

“A lot has changed, Tippy.” Clemmons made his voice sound firm, but deep down he wanted to scream. 

Tippy lowered his head to be at Clemmons level. He spoke in a very deep, yet desperate voice. “A lot more needs to change. You need to open the door to Paradoors.” 

“No.”

Clemmons winced as he expected Tippy to snap again, but he didn’t.

“Oh really? Well I’ve tried playing it nice but you are too stubborn. I didn’t want to do this, but you leave me with no choice.” 

Clemmons started to sweat. That was playing it nice?! Tippy pressed a button on a remote and a screen came down from the ceiling. On screen was a live video feed of the city locked up in the bunker. Tippy zoomed in on Mark, Ann and Billy who were huddling together, looking very worried.

“Clemmons, can’t you see how awful they feel? They will surely go hungry in that bunker unless you intervene.” 

Clemmons felt something he rarely felt. He felt anger. “How dare you! Billy is just a child!” 

“You’re right. Children especially deserve to be happy in Paradoors.”

Tippy clicked on another button and zoomed in on the Funky 46, who were sitting around, looking at the ground.

“Look at that. It seems even the Funky 46 have lost their groove.” 

Tippy then zoomed into Buster who also looked sad. “Ah, Buster Lloyd. Not one with words, but no words could describe how he must be feeling.” 

With another click of a button, Tippy zoomed in on Bob and Freya. 

Clemmon’s heart wrenched. Bob was sitting on a crate with his head buried in between his knees. He had his fingers in his hair. Freya hugged him while softly crying.

“Look at that, Bob definitely doesn’t seem to be doing well. It seems like you two are close. Wouldn’t you want what’s best for him? Wouldn’t you want to end his suffering and allow him into Paradoors?” 

Tears rolled down Clemmons’ face. He couldn’t take it anymore. He couldn’t bear to look at the whole city in so much pain.

“Can’t you see? The real world is filled with hurt and pain. There are disappointments lurking behind every corner. But all that ceases to exist in Paradoors. So what do you say?” 

Clemmons bowed his head. Finally, he whispered his response 

“I’ll do it.”

* * *

Tippy brought Clemmons to City Hall and untied the ropes from his wrists, but left the rope tied around his waist. Tippy clutched onto the rope attached to it. It was basically a leash, to prevent Clemmons from running away. 

Tippy leaned in close to Clemmons. “It’s simple. You open the door, and then I will lead everyone to their salvation.” 

Clemmons approached the door and hesitated, even though he knew it was pointless to delay the inevitable. There was no escape from this.

He was trembling as he moved his hand to the handle. He couldn’t believe what he was about to do. His hands started to sweat as he slowly twisted the handle and opened the door. The world of doors stretched before his eyes again, vast and endless. Tippy seemed awestruck for a moment, but then he grabbed Clemmons’ hands and tied them back up. 

“You understand that I can’t let you go loose in Paradoors. Not with your powers. There will be only one ruler over Paradoors: The Doorman.” 

Clemmons didn’t look up. It didn’t matter what Tippy did to him, as long as everyone else could be free.

Tippy took Clemmons and brought him into Paradoors.

* * *

Duke was walking around; he had to get his blood flowing. He tried not to look up at everyone’s faces, but he couldn’t help but reassess the situation. He saw Carol and Madison huddling together. Nearby, Bob still was sitting on the crate looking very distressed. Freya was still hugging him. Maybe walking around wasn’t such a great idea. 

He saw an empty spot on a crate by Buster and sat by him. Buster’s sad expression didn’t change. He probably didn’t notice or care that Duke sat by him. The crate they were sitting on were empty; all the crates were. They were locked in with nothing but themselves and a few empty crates. No food, no water… They sat there in silence for a moment until Duke decided to speak.

“How could Tippy do this to us!?” 

Buster glanced up at Duke.

“I can’t believe I ever put my trust in him.” Duke said.

Buster raised his eyebrow, but Duke couldn’t figure out why. It was sometimes hard for Duke to read others emotions. But Buster? It was especially difficult with him. Buster didn’t speak, so all Duke had to go off of was his facial expressions and body language. Duke just sighed. He heard footsteps approaching him. Looking up, he saw Rooky Partnur. 

She didn’t wait for Duke to greet her. “Duke, how could you let this happen?” 

Duke winced at those words.

“We all trusted you to come up with a plan to stop Tippy,” she continued. “You left us all in the dark, and now Tippy took away the one guy who could help us!” 

Duke felt horrible. Was that what the citizens thought of him? Was he just as much to blame for this as Tippy? Duke tried his best to protect his city, but he ended up breaking their trust… just like Tippy broke his. 

Unexpectedly, Rooky got teary eyed. “I’m sorry, Duke. I’m just really worried. We are all locked in here with no food or water, it’s only a matter of time before....” Rooky cried even harder and hugged Duke.

Duke was still for a moment, but then awkwardly hugged back. They stayed there for a bit until Duke let go. 

Duke couldn’t stand all this waiting around and moping. The city needed him to give them hope, no matter how small. He stood up on the crate so he was in view of everyone.

“Attention, everyone!” 

The crowd turned their heads and looked at Duke.

“I know that things aren’t looking great right now, and I know that I’ve left everyone in the dark about our plans to stop Tippy. But I believe there is still hope! We can still make it through this!” 

Tom Bennett, who was holding his eight month old baby, looked up at Duke. “Duke, how could you say that? We are locked in a room with nothing!”

Before Duke could respond, the only door to the large bunker opened. Tippy walked in. Behind the door stretched a one-way tunnel. Duke was afraid he knew where it led.

“Citizens, I have great news for you. I am here to save you! I invite all of you to come to Paradoors! There is plenty of food, water, and space!”

In a blink of an eye, Bob had approached Tippy and grabbed him by the collar of his cape. He yelled ferociously between tears.

“WHERE IS CLEMMONS!?”

Tippy wasn't sure if Bob was going to harm him, but he gave him a reassuring look. “He’s in Paradoors.” 

Bob shoved his way past Tippy. He walked through the only available doorway in the whole room. He was on his way to Paradoors. Tippy then looked out at the rest of the crowd to see if anyone would follow Bob.

Mrs. Christopher raised her hand.

“Yes?” Tippy waved his hand signaling for her to speak.

“Will there be any pies?” 

Tippy smiled. “Plenty.” 

Without hesitation she walked up to Tippy, and he cleared the doorway for her to walk through.

“Now, I invite everyone to enjoy Paradoors!”

The crowd looked at each other. 

Duke refused to give up the other citizens that easily. “Don’t listen to him!” he yelled from on top of the crate. “ We have to be strong as a city!” 

Tippy glared up at Duke. “Are you really going to listen to Duke? Are you going to stay in here for the rest of your lives or are you going to accept the gift of Paradoors?” 

The crowd looked back and forth at Duke and at Tippy. Then to Duke’s astonishment, the crowd unanimously went and followed Tippy. Duke stood there, speechless. The town gave up hope so quickly. Duke searched the crowd for anyone who may still support him. 

“Captain? Are you really choosing to follow Tippy?” 

Tom looked up at Duke defeated. “Duke, I have a baby. I can’t just stay in here.” 

Before he could process it, Duke was standing alone in the large room, with Tippy still at the doorway. Nobody stood by Duke, not even people he would consider his friends. But a part of him didn’t blame them. He was usually so full of ideas, but what could he do now? Tippy had backed them all into a corner. 

Tippy must have noticed how vulnerable Duke was and spoke.

“I am merciful. I will forgive you and allow you to come to Paradoors, unless you want to be completely alone.” 

Duke clenched his fists, feeling anger build up in him. Why should he need forgiveness from Tippy? Duke hadn’t been the one to purposefully betray his friends and city, and he _certainly_ hadn’t been the one to kidnap an innocent man, leaving the rest of the city to starve unless they obeyed. No, if anyone needed forgiveness, it was Tippy, but Duke wasn’t going to give that to him. 

But now what? Duke looked left and right at the oppressively empty room. He realized it was futile. He had no ideas, no support from others, and no resources. The walls seemed to press down on him, replacing his anger with a trapped sense of fear and loneliness. He didn’t want to give up the fight, but he couldn’t stay, nor could he leave the city at the mercy of Tippy. Duke had a city to protect, and whether they trusted him or not, he was going to be there for them. 

He got off the crate and made his way over to Tippy. Duke kept his eyes fixed on the ground so he didn’t have to see Tippy’s insufferable expression. 

He made his way through the door as Tippy closed it behind him. Duke found himself on the street in front of City Hall. The steel walls he noticed before prevented any escape. Cluster must’ve built the steel walls before he betrayed them. The only way forward was the already open City Hall Doors at the end of the tunnel. At first, Duke had a hard time making out the other side of the doors. But once it was his turn to enter the door, the unfamiliar world stretched clearly in front of his eyes. It looked similar to their regular city, except the buildings and features were made out of doors, stretching for as far as his eyes could see. Even the trees were made out of doors. All of the different-colored doors hurt his eyes. Hating what he was about to get into, Duke stepped through the doorway into Paradoors. Tippy closed the doors behind him, the sound ringing throughout the world. Duke and the whole city were in Paradoors.

* * *

Here's the link to the comic version!

[Salvation Comic](https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/unhinged-lego-city-adventures-/salvation-/viewer?title_no=494772&episode_no=10)


	8. Broken Doors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know the drill. Comics are at the end of the chapter.

Fendrich was walking down a dark alleyway, alone. Well, as alone as one could be, in Paradoors. The alleyway was completely made out of doors, and Tippy could appear out of any of them, or even hide behind them to eavesdrop. His powers allowed him to have his ear virtually anywhere. Nobody could be truly alone because of that. 

Luckily Tippy seemed to leave the citizens alone. He must’ve been too occupied by his huge door palace. His palace looked pretty out of place when compared with the rest of the city, just awkwardly situated in the middle of the skyscrapers. The only time Tippy really ever came out of his palace was if someone spoke up about their unhappiness in Paradoors. Tippy would appear and take them through a door to who-knows-where and no one would ever see them again. It was like they just vanished. At one point, each of Fendrich’s crooks had mentioned how they didn’t like Tippy being in charge. Tippy of course, overheard and had taken them all away. Fendrich had not seen them since. Even though he wasn’t all that nice to his crook henchmen, he still missed them, whatever happened to them. 

Overall, Paradoors was similar to their life back at home, except everything was covered in doors, and Tippy had ultimate power, which meant everyone had to watch what they said or else he would hear and come to take them away. It had been a month since they arrived, and many people had adapted to their new lives. Fendrich had tried to make a life here too, but it wasn’t working for him. He couldn’t live in a world where his stepson had more power than him. Of course, he couldn’t vocalize his thoughts publicly, it would be too dangerous. He heard of a place where he could go and voice his opinions safely, and was exactly where he was heading. 

Fendrich was looking back and forth to make sure no one was following him, even though in Paradoors you could never be quite sure. He found his way in a remote corner of the door covered alleyway, seeing Morris and Morris blocking a gaping hole in a door covered building. 

“Ughhh not you two.” Fendrich stopped in front of them.

Morris and Morris did not move, and the Morris on the left only muttered, “Password?” 

Fendrich groaned. “They know me, you morons!” 

The other Morris spoke.“You need the password.”

Fendrich mumbled something under his breath.

“What was that?”

Fendrich mumbled, but it was understandable this time. “The easiest way is rarely the best way.”

Morris smiled. “Access granted.” 

They stepped away from the gaping hole and allowed Fendrich into the room. Inside the room, the doors were slashed, broken, and ripped off the hinges; this must’ve been done so Tippy couldn’t enter or hear what was happening here. Clever. They must’ve done this quietly so he wouldn’t hear. 

Crates and broken doors were scattered around the room, being used as benches, and at the back of the room stood a small stage, with Gabby ToCamera on it. Duke, who was sitting on a crate off to the side of the stage, spoke.

“So what happened with your plan Gabby?”

“Well I set Craig outside of Tippy’s palace then I ran. Craig was supposed to fight Tippy, but he didn’t do anything!” 

Duke cut her off. “Why did you think it was a good idea to have Craig fight Tippy?” 

“Well umm, I guess hadn’t really thought about that.” 

Duke slapped his face with his palm. “Ok, well does anyone else have any other ideas?” 

Fendrich, who was standing in the back of the room, cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. All the heads turned and gave him their attention. He made his way up to the stage , scanning the crowd. Sinclair sat near the front.

She glared at him. “Fendrich!”

“Sinclair!” He stood there growling at Sinclair for a moment until he remembered that he was on stage, and everyone was waiting for him to speak. 

“I’ve heard about your secret little rebellion to stop Tippy, and I want in.” 

Duke stood up from his crate. He seemed slightly different than he had been in the bunker. He was wearing the same outfit, but it seemed more ripped up. He was even missing his right sleeve. Aside from his physical appearance, there seemed to be something stirring inside of him. Back at the Mayor’s Ball Duke had a fun spirit, and in the bunker, he had seemed more serious, but hopeful, but now he seemed dark and grim. Duke spoke to Fendrich.

“If you want to be part of the rebellion, then you must promise to keep it a secret.”

“I will.” 

Duke still glared with his eyes narrowed. “You must also set aside any contentions you have with anyone. That includes Sinclair. We must all be united to defeat Tippy.”

Fendrich considered for a moment. He hated Sinclair, but hating her here was just not the same. Back at home, their rivalry was fueled by who had more power over the city, but here, it was only Tippy who had power. 

“Fine I’ll set aside my rivalry with Sinclair… For now.” He mumbled the last part under his breath so that only he could hear. 

Duke still had a serious look. “Lastly, you must forget what you think you know about Tippy. He’s not what you think he is. Anything you knew about him being your stepson is just an illusion to cover up the fact that he is pure evil.” At this point, Duke began trembling in his anger. “You have to be willing to do whatever it takes to stop him.” 

“I… will.” 

Duke nodded and adjusted his sunglasses. “Well then, welcome to the Broken Doors rebellion.” 

Fendrich scanned the room and saw the small group. In the audience was Sinclair, Mayor Fleck, Gabby, Harl, Freya, Bob, Snake Rattler, and Daisy.

“So are you the leader, Duke?” Fendrich asked.

Duke folded his arms. “Well, I made this rebellion, but I am making sure to include everyone in the planning process this time.” 

Fendrich grinned. “Well in that case, I have a plan to stop Tippy.”

Duke waved his hand signaling for Fendrich to continue speaking.

“I am Tippy’s stepfather; we have always had a connection. I think that I will be able to convince him to let us go back home.” 

Duke shook his head. “Fendrich, I just told you. You have to forget everything you think you know about Tippy. You can’t just talk him out of Paradoors.”

“Yes, but I’m a businessman. I know how to talk people into things that they don’t even want to do. I have a few cards I could play on him. I could play the family card.” 

Duke frowned doubtfully. “I really don’t think that will work. But I suppose if you are completely sold on this plan I can’t stop you. Just know that you’ll be going on your own expense.”

Fendrich shrugged. “I know Tippy, including his weaknesses.” 

“Well, I guess it’s worth a shot. But you can’t say anything about this place, or even the existence of this rebellion no matter what he may do to you. So far, we’ve been able to keep this a secret.”

“You have my word.”

* * *

  
  
Fendrich made his way to Tippy’s palace. It looked like a normal palace from afar, but as Fendrich approached, he was able to make out the doors that made up its entire structure. Fenrdich couldn’t help but be impressed with the building; it somehow looked grandiose and gorgeous despite being made only of doors. Who knew doors could be so extravagant? 

He approached the white, unnecessarily large main doors. The fancy metal handles and door knocker gleamed. He grabbed the door knocker, realizing upon closer inspection that it had a door emblem on it. It was like doorception. He put aside that thought and knocked on the door. 

Fendrich stood there for a moment and could feel sweat coming on. He didn’t know why he was so nervous to see his stepson. He had never felt like this when visiting him regularly, but what Duke said about Tippy being different made him nervous. He personally had not seen his stepson since their arrival in Paradoors. How bad could he really be? 

The door opened but no one seemed to be there. Fendrich looked further into the palace and saw a large room, of course covered in doors. The table set up in the middle of the room was actually one long door laid horizontally, and there were candles set up around it. The candles themselves weren’t made out of doors, but they had a door design engraved on them. They appeared to be made out of gold, which caught his attention. There was also an extravagant crystal chandelier hanging from the tall ceiling, and each door-shaped crystal sparkled with the colors of the rainbow. Surrounding the table were two staircases, curving up to a balcony that overlooked the entire room. And up on the balcony was a shadowy figure.  
  


“I’m glad to see you, Fendrich. Please take a seat at the table.” 

Fendrich still couldn’t see Tippy, but he sat at an end of the table. The room was dim, but the fireplace next to the table illuminated a bit surrounding him.  
  


“You must excuse my unpreparedness. I wasn’t expecting company.” Tippy made his way down the curving staircase.

As he did so, Fendrich was able to take a good look at what Tippy was wearing. Tippy was in a completely white tuxedo, his shoes the same color. The only thing on his tuxedo that wasn’t white was a neck bow tie that at its center, held a finely polished ruby. Tippy was also wearing gold epaulets. Those seemed to be the most fitting things he was wearing. Hanging off his epaulets, was a long, gold, shimmering cape. It dragged behind Tippy with every step he took down the stairs. His expression was confident, and next to his nicely trimmed goatee was a pair of black dangling earrings. Of course, the thing that caught the most of Fendrichs attention was Tippy’s golden crown. He made his way down the stairs and he opened a door that was by Fendrich, pulling out a silver platter of food.  
  


“Here you go.” He set the platter in front of Fendrich. “It’s lobster tail with a lemon and garlic garnish with a side of potatoes.”

Fresh steam emitted from the plate of food. It smelled absolutely amazing. 

“Uhhh thank you.” Fendrich was baffled. Tippy was being kind to him? It wasn’t at all how Duke had described him. Then again, this could all be a ploy. He decided to remain wary. 

Tippy nodded and went over to sit at the other end of the table. 

Fendrich slowly started eating his food before he tried to make some small talk. “So, you live in a palace now?”

Tippy smiled. “Yes, every inch is covered with doors and gold, isn’t it stunning?”  
  


Now this was a topic Fendrich was interested in. “Gold you say?”   
  


“Every door knob here is made of gold. But there’s still plenty more where that came from.” 

Fendrich looked around at all the door knobs, stunned. It was A LOT of gold.  
  


“Anyways, it has been a month since your opportune arrival here,” Tippy said. “How’s it been for you?” 

Fendrich set down his utensils and looked at his step son. “Tippy, if I’m being honest, I want to go home.” 

Tippy cocked his head “You are home, aren’t you?”

  
“No, I mean back to the city. Back to a normal life, and back to my penthouse.” Seeing Tippy’s lavish living space and riches just made him homesick for his own.

Tippy also put down his utensils and stopped eating. He gave Fendrich an understanding smile. “I see. You miss your old penthouse? Well I’m deeply sorrowed to see that you haven’t been enjoying your stay.” 

Fendrich was bewildered. “Umm well, thank you for understanding?”

  
Tippy put his hand on his chin, and stroked his goatee. “What if I were to offer you more? More than what you ever had?”

  
Fendrich leaned forward. “Go on.”

  
“I could get you a palace just like this for you. And you will also get lots of gold. I have so much, I don’t know what to do with it. I wouldn’t do this for just anyone, but you are family.” 

Fendrich was still processing everything Tippy had said. Was he serious? Fendrich studied his stepson’s face, but nothing _seemed_ to suggest he was lying...   
  


“So as you were saying? You wanted to leave?” Tippy said.  
  


Fendrich gave in. “Um actually I don’t. I’ll take the palace.”

Tippy smiled smugly at him.

* * *

Duke stood on the stage in the Broken Doors room. He was looking down at the rebellion as their leader.  
  


“So we know that Fendrich hasn’t returned. Who knows what awful thing Tippy could have done to him. I shouldn’t have let him go to his palace.” 

Everyone had melancholy looks, even Sinclair. 

Duke clenched his fists. “For now on, no one will be allowed to go to Tippy’s palace alone. He can’t be trusted.” 

Harl was in the crowd sitting on a broken wooden door that was being repurposed as a bench. He looked uncomfortable. Harl had given many ideas, but all them involved him helping Tippy. Duke knew that was unrealistic. Nobody could help Tippy, not even Harl Hubbs.

Duke continued speaking. “Well, we are going to need a new plan. Does anyone have anything?” 

The crowd was silent for a moment until Bob stood up, the purple sunglasses hanging at his collar clacking against his chest. They looked oddly out of place when compared to his rugged apocalyptic outfit. 

His face looked desperate.“I can’t take it anymore. We need Clemmons back. We can’t open the doors that lead back home. Clemmons is the only way!” 

Freya looked up at Bob. “I agree, but might I remind you that we have no idea where he is? This place has billions of doors, he could be behind any of them.” 

Bob looked down at Freya. “Then I will look behind every single one of them. I won’t stop until I find him.” 

Everyone knew that Bob had spent countless hours looking for Clemmons. Nobody had seen him since Tippy kidnapped him a month ago. Tippy could open any door and make it lead anywhere he wanted, but a regular person could open a door only to where it was supposed to go. This whole world was filled with billions of doors and with Tippy’s teleportation powers, he could’ve hid Clemmons anywhere. It was simply impossible to find him. 

Bob’s eyes looked wet as he left the room. Freya looked at the floor hopelessly and removed her glasses as she started softly crying.  
  


* * *

  
  
The room was dark, given that it had no windows. Even though they were in Paradoors, there was only one door to be found; the steel door across the room. Everything else was just door-decorated. For a “jail cell”, it looked surprisingly homely. 

But it was still a jail cell, nonetheless. 

Clemmons sat on the middle of the floor, by the side of his nicely-made bed. It was his usual spot. His hands were completely covered by metal capsules. The capsules were chained to each other, like an intense pair of handcuffs. 

He sat there silently, breathing slowly. The door opened but Clemmons didn’t even react: he just sat there, looking at the floor. He knew it was Tippy. It never was anyone else but him. Tippy made lots of trips to Clemmons cell, usually at least seven times a day. This had basically become routine. Cells were normally lonely, but it was odd that he seemed to hardly have any alone time. 

Tippy came in front of Clemmons and set down a platter of food. “It’s lobster tail with a lemon and garlic garnish with mashed potatoes.” 

Clemmons still didn’t look up, he really wasn’t in the mood for anything right now. Tippy stood above Clemmons for a moment, then sat cross legged in front of him. He still didn’t move until Tippy brought his hand to Clemmons’ chin and lifted his head for him.   
  


“Eat.” he said softly. “It’s all very fine food, and it’s just for you.” 

Clemmons whispered very softly. “I don’t want it.” 

Tippy sighed. He looked at Clemmons’ tired face. “Do you want to watch TV?” 

Clemmons didn’t respond.  
  


“What about door chess?” No response.  
  


“Do you want a rematch on Paradoors Monopoly?” Nothing.  
  


“Do you want to listen to music?” Silence.   
  


“I’m bored, dang it!” Tippy groaned and laid on the floor in front of Clemmon’s feet. 

This did make Clemmons react. He just stared at Tippy in confusion as the doorman covered his face with his hands. Tippy acted very odd in Paradoors. He was a lot less threatening and almost...friendly? Well, as friendly as he could be to a prisoner. There were even times when he would take off Clemmons’ chains and let him stretch his hands, under Tippy’s watchful care, of course. 

Another strange thing he’d do was offering to play games with him, Tippy’s favorite game being door chess. It was an odd thing to do with your prisoner, but at times it felt as if Tippy was trying to make Clemmons a friend, rather than his prisoner. Clemmons _did_ enjoy his company every now and then. Sometimes the various things Tippy would do in an attempt to amuse him would make him feel a little happier. But it was likely that there was an evil motive behind it, knowing Tippy. Clemmons tried not to show any amusement because the last thing he wanted was for Tippy to think he actually enjoyed Paradoors. 

But right now, Clemmons was not feeling amused in any way. He had been locked up for a month, and Tippy’s strange friendly gestures could only go so far. Right now, he just really missed the citizens, especially his fire crew. _Especially_ Bob. Clemmons could not truly be happy, not unless he could see Bob again. Even just seeing outside on something other than a TV screen would be nice. 

Tippy was still on the floor at Clemmons knees, covering his eyes. Unexpectedly, he started slightly laughing. 

“You and I aren’t so different. I feel just like you. Trapped.” 

Clemmons didn’t really understand. Tippy was able to travel anywhere in the world, see anyone at any time, and he even had a whole palace filled with his favorite thing, doors! How could he possibly feel trapped?

Tippy turned his head to look at Clemmons. “You know I want you to be happy too.”

“Then let me go.” 

Tippy closed his eyes and laid there in silence before he spoke. “I want to. I really do. But you’ll put everyone else’s happiness in jeopardy. We both must be sacrifices.” 

Clemmons was confused by Tippy’s words. He couldn’t possibly decipher what Tippy meant when he labeled them both as sacrifices. 

Tippy stood up and brushed the dust from his white tuxedo. “Is there anything else I could do to make you happier?” 

Clemmons just looked at the ground.  
  


“Well if you are occupied, then I’ll leave you be.” Tippy started walking towards the door.

  
“Wait, Tippy!” 

Tippy turned his head.  
  


Clemmons signed. “How is everyone?” 

Tippy raised his eyebrow. “You sure like to ask that question. “But they are happy.”

Clemmons didn’t believe that answer, but he wished it were true. “How is Bob?” 

Tippy approached Clemmons. “I could see right now, if you’d like.” 

Clemmons lit up, feeling an energy surge back into his body that he had been lacking for days. “Could you bring him here?” 

Tippy smiled. “If it will make you happy.” 

Clemmons nodded. Tippy walked out and closed the door.   
  
Anticipation coursed through Clemmons. A short while later, the door to Clemmons’s cell opened. His heart started racing. Tippy fully opened the door, and Bob came running in, straight up to Clemmons, who was still kneeling on the ground, and embraced him. Clemmons was unable to hug back because his hands were chained, but Bob hugged hard enough for the both of them. Both were already in tears. 

Tippy was awkwardly standing in the doorway. Bob, who still didn’t let go, looked back at him. “Could you give us a minute?” 

Tippy awkwardly smiled. “Oh. Yeah. But don’t try anything… I will know if you try to escape.” 

Tippy closed the door and left Bob and Clemmons alone in the cell. As soon as Bob heard the door close, he pressed his forehead against Clemmons.

“I’m so happy you’re safe. But where are you exactly?” 

“I’m in Tippy’s palace, but I’m not too sure which room.”

Bob had wondered if Clemmons was in the palace, as that seemed the most likely option, but he never was able to check because Duke had forbidden anyone from going to the palace. But at least he knew where Clemmons was, and that he was safe.

“What awful things has Tippy done to you?”

Clemmons blinked. “Actually nothing. He has tried being nice to me, which is a change from when he originally kidnapped me.” 

Bob was surprised. He had not really seen Tippy since his arrival, but he’d heard terrible rumors of what Tippy had been doing to Clemmons. “Seriously? Is it a trap?” 

Clemmons shrugged. “I don’t think so. I honestly think he’s just a lonely guy.” 

Their faces were still close, but Bob came in closer to his ear and whispered. “Well, I’m going to get you out. No matter what it takes.” 

Bob stared at Clemmons’ teary eyes. He then leaned in closer to his mouth until they kissed. Bob didn’t even care that it tasted salty because of their tears. His fingers were running through Clemmons’ strawberry blonde hair. They knelt together on the floor as Bob intensified the kiss. He slowly pulled away, as he heard the door opening.   
  


“Ok, it’s time for Bob to go.” Tippy announced.

Bob stood up and couldn’t take his eyes off of Clemmons as Tippy guided him away, and for the first time in a long time, Clemmons felt like there was still hope.

* * *

Alright here's the comics! I took out a few pieces of dialogue in the comics cause I'm lazy and I didn't want to draw every little detail. But it's comprehensible, you just may notice a few things were taken out

[Broken Doors Comic Part 1](https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/unhinged-lego-city-adventures-/broken-doors-pt-1/viewer?title_no=494772&episode_no=11)

[Broken Doors Comic Part 2](https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/unhinged-lego-city-adventures-/broken-doors-pt-2/viewer?title_no=494772&episode_no=12)


	9. The Plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Same old same old. Comics are at the end.

The broken doors room was quiet. The rebellion was really stumped trying to think of a plan out of Paradoors. They have thought of various plans such as sneaking into the palace at night, or purposely capturing and taking over the palace. But those plans had two main problems: it was dangerous because so far anyone who confronted Tippy had disappeared, and no one even knew the layout of the palace. 

They were all silent, trying to brainstorm, when Harl stood up. “I think I have a plan.” 

Duke was sitting on a crate; he had one leg up on the crate and one leg placed on the dusty floor. He knew what Harl was probably going to say, but he still allowed him to speak.   
  


“Ok, I think what needs to happen is that I need to help Tippy! I know him very well, so I think I could get through to him!” 

Everyone in the meeting groaned. Duke pinched the bridge of his nose. “Harl, how many times do we have to tell you? We can’t help Tippy. No one can. He’s too far gone. I mean, didn’t you see him when he locked us all in the bunker to starve? He even turned Cluster against us just to get what he wants.”

Harl looked at the ground and softly kicked at the dust at his feet. “We could always try.” 

Duke stood up. “No, that would be too dangerous. We don’t want anything to happen to you. It’s my responsibility to protect everyone.” 

Harl sat back down, looking dejected, and the room fell silent once more

Someone barged through the gaping hole that was being guarded by Morris and Morris. Bob ran up to everyone, panting.   
  


“I found Clemmons!” He was barely able to get the words out.

Freya immediately stood up and covered her mouth in shock, speechless. 

Duke approached Bob, urgent. “How did you find him?”    
  


“Tippy brought me there. Clemmons somewhere in the palace.”   
  


“And you are sure it wasn’t a trap.” 

Bob looked down at himself. “Nothing happened to me.” 

Mayor Fleck stood up “Hmmm. That’s odd.”

Duke looked back at Fleck through his sunglasses “Agreed. Nobody has seen Tippy without disappearing.” He turned his attention back to Bob. “But I am glad you are safe and know where he is.” 

  
“Yes” said Bob, “but now that we know where he is we can break him out and leave this place!” 

  
“Slow down there partner.” There was a shadowy figure in the back leaning against the wall. Even though it was hard to see him, it was quite obviously Snake Rattler. 

  
“Even with Clemmons, Tippy will be too powerful with all the doors around.” Snake stepped forward with his hands on his sides, gripping his belt.

Duke spoke. “Snake has a point.” 

Freya had recovered from her shock and spoke. “Well what if we got rid of all the doors?” 

Duke was curious. “It would take years to break every single door, plus I’m sure Tippy would catch on by then.” 

They were all stumped until Freya's eyes lit up. “But what if we got rid of them all at once?”

Duke had his finger on his chin. “Go on.”   
  


“Almost all of the doors are made out of wood, this whole world is a fire hazard. If I were to start a fire, it would spread very quickly considering just how many doors there are. Tippy can’t get through a singed door”

Duke smiled. “I like that idea, it might actually work. But how are we going to start a fire?” 

Daisy approached and stood next to Snake Rattler. She held up an unlit stick of dynamite. “I got you covered.” 

Duke backed up from Daisy. “Where did you get that?” 

Daisy laughed. “I can make explosives out of anything.” 

He had been out of the crime fighting game for a while now and he had almost forgotten just how dangerous criminals could be. “Daisy, Explosives are dangerous.” 

Daisy's eyes rolled. “So are fires.” 

Freya nodded. “That is very true, but what if we were to evacuate everyone before we started the fire?” 

Duke considered. He liked the overall idea of this plan, but it was very dangerous, and came with risks. “If we evacuate everyone, then we’d have to tell them about our secret rebellion. Someone could tattle to Tippy and then everything would be ruined.” 

Snake Rattler adjusted his cowboy hat. “The lawman’s right. But I’m sure we could evacuate everyone without telling them about our plan. This town is very easy to distract. We just got to do something outside that will distract everyone. I’m thinking of a runaway stagecoach.” 

Duke sighed. “No, that is not a convenient distraction.” 

Gabby Tocamera chimed in. “I am a news reporter. I know my audience. You have no idea how much people love their voices being projected into a microphone. I’ve had people go as far as to try to steal my microphone. If I allow people to finally use it, there will surely be a crowd.”

Duke looked at Gabby suspiciously, remembering her last failed plan. “Are you sure that’ll work?” 

Gabby put her hands on her waist. “Better yet, I let them use my microphone for a karaoke competition of The Loud Song.” 

Duke smiled a little. “Yep, that sounds better. They can’t get enough of The Loud Song.” 

Now that the ball was rolling, Duke gained more confidence in the plan. He just wanted to make sure everyone was on the same page before they moved forward with it.

“So we’ll have that as a distraction to get the town safely away from the buildings so we can start a fire. That will burn down the doors and will start making Tippy’s powers useless. It will probably distract Tippy and get him out of his palace so we can search for Clemmons. Once we get him, we can get to the doors back home and Clemmons will lead us back to the city.” 

Daisy chimed in. “What should we do about the people Tippy has taken away?”

Duke folded his arms. “We demand Tippy give them back to us before we all leave.” What Duke didn’t want to think about was the chance that they were gone...for good. For now, they would go forward assuming they were trapped, but alive, like Clemmons. Duke was not going to give up on any one of them.

Daisy nodded, satisfied with his answer. The rebellion as a whole seemed to be in agreement with the plan as well.

Duke put his hands on his waist confidently. “Great, will everyone be ready tomorrow?”

* * *

The moon shone brilliantly overhead. The shiny door knobs reflected the moon’s rays. Although just about everything here was made out of doors, the moon didn’t seem to be. Thinking about how Paradoors worked hurt Harl’s head. There was no way he was going to get any sleep tonight, not like he often slept more than four hours. But tonight he had a lot on his mind, with tomorrow kicking off the start of Duke’s plan. 

Harl didn’t quite like his plan. Even though Tippy made a lot of mistakes, it just seemed unwise to completely take him down in flames. Literally. But blowing up the city was Duke's plan, and he was the leader of the rebellion, not Harl. 

He was on his way to complete his own mission anyway, even though Duke would certainly not approve. Harl thought of the irony. He didn’t see himself as rebellious in any sense, but now he was rebelling against the rebellion leader. But he had to give his plan a try. He was going to confront Tippy, and talk to him. He quietly walked through the streets not to avoid Tippy, but to avoid Duke. 

The palace was lit up in the distance. As Harl was making his way toward it, movement in the shadows caught him off guard. Harl ducked into a nearby alleyway to hide. Luckily whatever was moving didn’t see him. 

The shadowy figure looked like it was approaching the closed door that was the gateway back home. A light near the closed port slightly illuminated the figure’s black cloak. Who was traveling at night to the closed doors? The cloaked person turned around to reveal a face with a grave expression. It was Tippy. What was he doing out of his palace? 

Tippy approached the closed portal and rested his hands on the handle. He was still for a moment, then he tried to push the door. It looked as if he was using all his strength to try and force it open. But it didn’t budge. Harl was still hidden, but he could hear Tippy talking to himself.

“It’s hopeless. I can’t open this door. I guess I’m stuck here.”

Harl raised his eyebrow in confusion. Tippy felt stuck in Paradoors?

“I have everything I could ever want here, so why can’t I even feel a semblance of happiness?” Tippy slumped against the doors. “I guess I’ll just have to be a sacrifice. Even if I’m not happy here, at least everyone else is.” 

Tippy sank until he was sitting on the floor, turning his back against the door. He truly looked distraught and hopeless. Harl’s heart sank as he saw Tippy bury his face in his knees, and he heard his soft crying. Harl had never seen him cry, not even in space. 

He had to fight the impulse to run over to him and hug him. He so badly wanted to tell Tippy that he cared for him, and he always had. Harl didn’t think Tippy realized that; he had seemed hurt at the ball, trying to avoid him. But now more than ever, Tippy needed help from someone who understood the pain he was going through.

Harl always knew that he wasn’t an unhinged doorman; he, like so many others, was just acting on what he believed to be right. Even though he did many things wrong, Harl was able to see the earnestness in his actions. Unlike what Duke presumed, Tippy genuinely believed he had been doing the right thing by bringing them to Paradoors. Why else would he be crying about everyone’s happiness in the dead of the night, with no one around? He had never meant to hurt anyone… he was just trying to attain everlasting joy for the city. No wonder he’d done all the things he had. 

Harl debated what to do next. Maybe if he just told Tippy that they all wanted to go home, then he’d understand. Their chaotic plans wouldn’t be at all necessary. He couldn’t fight the urge anymore and decided to come out of the alleyway to help Tippy, but someone grabbed him from behind and dragged him back to the shadows of the alleyway. It was Duke. Once they were out of sight from Tippy, Duke turned to him, whispering urgently. 

“Harl, what are you doing?” 

Harl knew he had to be honest. “I was trying to approach Tippy.”

Surprisingly, Duke looked at him with an understanding smile. “Hey, I get it. You must have so much anger built up in you that you wanted to let it all out now. But I must caution you. Now is not the time. Tomorrow there will be a chance.”

Harl shook his head. How could Duke misread him so blatantly? “No. That’s not at all what I was doing. I wanted to try to talk to Tippy, I think if we just talk to him, he’ll understand.”

Duke’s expression quickly changed. “No. I already told you, he won’t understand. And I have to look out for your safety. If anything happens to you, it could jeopardize the mission.” His voice became stern. “You can’t ruin this plan for everyone, so you will NOT be talking to Tippy… Am I clear?”

Harl lowered his head and looked at the ground and softly nodded. Duke pat Harl’s shoulder.

“Well let’s get you home, you need some rest for tomorrow.”

* * *

Clemmons had just woken up. He had no windows letting in the daylight to indicate the time, but luckily a clock was able to notify him it was morning. He stood up and stretched around. His range of motion was limited from his chains, but he got used to it. It was almost like he was perpetually living his life as if it were “Hands off day”. Anytime Tippy caught Clemmons doing anything with his feet or mouth he’d get yelled at. But what else was he supposed to do? He was chained up, and he didn’t want to perpetually wait around for Tippy to do things for him. 

Clemmons looked over at the bookshelf that was recently placed in his cell. It seemed that Tippy was constantly trying to find new ways to keep him entertained. Clemmons appreciated the effort, but the selection was quite limited, given that they were all novels about doors. Who even wrote books like that? Clemmons tried grabbing one of the books with his chained hands, to no avail. Frustrated, he used his mouth and pushed it onto the floor. He looked at the cover to see who wrote it. He saw the words “ Written by a doorman”. Clemmons rolled his eyes. His attention was averted when the door opened behind him. Tippy was smiling warmly at him.

“You are up early.” His eyes feel down on the book that Clemmons knocked over. “I see you are reading the first book in “The Chronicles of Paradoors”? It’s a classic.” 

Clemmons shrugged.

“I’ve noticed you’ve been in a much better mood since I brought Bob here. You two really seem to like each other.” 

Clemmons smiled and looked at the ground. “Yeah, I do really like him. Thanks for letting me see him.” 

Tippy brushed his hair back. “I remember what that was like… to really care for someone and to have them like you back.” 

Clemmons was confused. “Did you use to like someone?” 

Tippy folded his arms and looked at the ground. “I suppose so, but I think he’s doing just fine without me.” 

“You are talking about Duke aren’t you?” 

Tippy shook his head. “No, I’m talking about Harl.” 

This was news to Clemmons. He didn’t know that he cared about anything other than Paradoors. He was Duke’s date to the ball, but Clemmons had figured that was just a coverup. 

“You like Harl?” 

Tippy came and sat at the end of the bed. “I was angry at Harl for so long for foiling my plans, but now that I’ve won, I have been able to put that all in the past and forgive him. Now that I’m in Paradoors, I see things with a bigger perspective. Everyone will be happy. I know it.”

Clemmons also came and sat down at the end of the bed next to Tippy. “ Wait did you say  _ will _ ? You do realize that nobody is happy here. It sounds like even you know it.”

Tippy shook his head. “This is what I’m talking about. You are so focused on what’s happening now that you can’t see the bigger picture. With time everyone’s scars will be healed and that’s when the happiness will settle in. My family has raised me to know the truth.”

Clemmons cocked his head in confusion. “Are you talking about Fendrich?”

“No. All my step father’s family cares for greed. I’m talking about the Dorman family line. What we stand for is dignity and honor. We are all doormen after all. My family line goes directly to the first doorman in history. He was the one with the prophecy. He was able to see this world and see the happiness it brings.”

Clemmons challenged his words. “Well, what if they were all wrong? Information can be corrupted with that much of a time gap.”

Tippy looked a little defensive. “They were right about the door being on Mars. They were right about the existence of Paradoors. It simply makes sense if they are right about everyone being happy here.”

Clemmons had a difficult time understanding. The existence of Paradoors is bizarre, but everyone being happy here seemed even more strange. “Well, have you actually talked with anyone to see how they truly feel?”

Tippy leaned back against his arms at the foot of the bed. “No, I haven’t really spoken to anyone. I figure I’d let them do what they want. If they want to visit me, then I’ll let them, but if not then I won’t push it. I understand I caused them a lot of fear, and if they don’t want to see me, I understand.” Tippy hesitated before he continued, “Like Harl, for example. I understand that he probably wants nothing to do with me. His path to happiness is without me and I have to accept that. Being the ruler over everyone’s happiness is a huge responsibility. I have to put away my own feelings for Harl to let him be happy on his own path.”

Clemmons raised his eyebrow at him. “That sounds very different from how you acted back at the city.” 

“Paradoors is different. Here, everyone’s happiness is my top priority.” He stood up. “Well, I’m going to make your bed.” 

Clemmons stood up to allow Tippy to make his bed. “Tippy, why do you always try to do nice things to me? I mean look at me, I’m in chains and you are in a crown.” 

Tippy didn’t look up. He was occupied tucking in and straightening wrinkles of the sheets. “I may be the ruler, but doormen live to serve. Plus, I like to help people.” 

Clemmons wanted to laugh a little. “You sound like Harl.”

Tippy turned his head to look back at Clemmons. His face was a bit red. “Don’t you dare say that.” 

Clemmons backed off, he could tell the subject was still a bit touchy. Tippy continued making the bed in silence. Tippy’s words about wanting to serve and make others happy sounded genuine, but something still didn’t set right with Clemmons. “If you just want to help people, then why did you lock the city away in that room, without food and water? You would have let them starve if we hadn’t all given in to you.”

Tippy looked uncomfortable. “I can understand why that would still upset you. But I promise you, I was only bluffing. I had to make it seem like you all had no choice. That’s why I pulled out my master criminal outfit again. I knew I couldn’t convince you with words, but I knew you all still feared me, so...I used that to my advantage. But think of it in a bigger perspective. That will seem so microscopic compared to everyone being filled with unlimited joy.”

“Bluffing or not, Tippy, you still put us all through something traumatic.”

Tippy sighed. “I know. But with time, your wounds will heal over. As for the rest of the citizens, they seem happy now. Perhaps Paradoors is helping them forget their pain.” 

Clemmons’ head hurt as he tried to wrap his head around Tippy’s morality. Tippy did some terrible things, but he made it seem his motives were pure all along. Clemmons wasn’t sure what to feel anymore. 

Tippy lazily ruffled the pillows and quickly made his way to the doorway. “I’ll make us breakfast, how do you want your eggs?” 

“Um, how about scrambled?” 

Tippy nodded and walked out the door. For the longest time Clemmons thought Tippy was being nice to him as part of his evil plan, but now, Clemmons wasn’t sure that was true. Either way, Clemmons couldn’t help but keep a smile for his face. Bob was going to rescue him.

* * *

Shirley held a bag of garbage. From first glance it would seem like any ordinary day, but instead of collecting the garbage into bags, she was throwing it everywhere. Freya was standing next to her. She lowered her voice to a whisper so that Tippy couldn’t hear.

“This will make for really good kindling for the fire.”

Shirley raised her eyebrow at Freya and also whispered. “For the firefighter chief, you really know a lot about starting fires.” 

Freya chuckled. “I’ve become the very thing I’ve swore to destroy!”

“Me too.” Shirley laughed quietly in response. 

They turned their heads as they heard Gabby’s loud voice echoing through the town. “Hello Everyone! This is Gabby Tocamera. I’m outside to announce that we will have a karaoke competition to The Loud Song! Everyone should get out here and have a try! All you need to do is check off your name to join! ” 

There were masses of people that came out and flooded the streets. They lined up to confirm their names. Nate finished first and ran up to the microphone. His excited voice rang through the emptying city. Freya and Shirley were far enough away from the crowd that the explosions wouldn’t hurt them. They were waiting for the signal that everyone was accounted for. Only then would they proceed. Duke was briskly walking up to them, Daisy trailing behind his swaying cape. Duke pulled out a walkie-talkie and threw it at Freya.

“Here you go.” he said quietly. “When we give the signal, do what we planned.”

Daisy threw Freya a few sticks of dynamite. Duke was worried. It was one thing if Daisy were going to blow up the city, but it was a whole different thing when it was Freya. 

“Are you sure you know how to use that?” Duke asked.

Freya looked at Daisy. “I think I learned from the best.” 

Daisy winked at Freya. “I would’ve done the honors of blowing up the city, but you guys are going to need a skilled explosionist to help get the chains off of Clemmons.”

Duke looked at Daisy. “Explosionist?”

“Yeah. It sounds official doesn’t it?” 

Duke had his sunglasses on, but everyone could still tell he was rolling his eyes. “Well, Snake, Daisy, Bob and I are going to break out Clemmons.” 

Duke spoke to Freya very seriously. “Freya, make sure to explode the dynamite away from the gateway back home. If those were to catch on fire then we’d all be stuck in here.”

Freya nodded to show that she understood. After that, Duke and his crew turned around to make their way to Tippy’s palace.

“Good luck.” Freya said while she was holding the Dynamite. 

Duke looked back “You too.” 

They ran over to Tippy’s palace. They didn’t have door powers like Tippy or Clemmons, so they actually had to travel by foot. Maybe they could’ve taken door cars, but they wanted to be extra discreet. They ran through the door city, hiding behind anything to be out of the clear. It was ultimately useless because everything was made out of doors and Tippy could pop out of any of them, even though he seemed to hardly ever leave his palace. They made it to Tippy’s uncomfortably large door palace. They were hiding behind a shrub made up of doors. Again, useless, but they didn’t care. They hunkered down, now only waiting for the all-clear from Gabby. 

A surprisingly short time later, her voice crackled over Daisy’s walkie-talkie. “Wow, that line moved fast! People were really excited to sing! But I confirmed that everyone is here.”

“Great” Duke responded. He then grabbed his own walkie-talkie. “Ok, Freya, you’re good to go.” 

Freya was in the middle of the city streets with a stick of dynamite in her hand. “Take cover Shirley.” 

Shirley didn’t hesitate. She ran away and took cover behind a door mailbox. Freya grabbed a lighter from her black cargo pants and clicked a small flame into life. She lit the end of the dynamite and threw it far at the wooden door building. The dynamite made a hissing sound right before it exploded, and fiery pieces of door launched into the air. Freya didn’t hesitate to grab another stick and light it up. She felt adrenaline run through her as she threw another stick of dynamite. She ran to another part of the city and did the same thing. 

Tippy came out of a door, looking very distressed. He came out right as Freya threw another stick.

“What are you doing?!”

“What does it look like?” 

Tippy was offended. “Freya, I am a doorman! I know you put fires out, you don’t start them!”

Freya stopped lighting her dynamite to glare at him. “Tippy, you don’t know me at all.”

* * *

Duke ran to the palace front doors. They were quite large, and luckily they were unlocked. It was a little strange that Tippy left his front door unlocked, especially when the city was furious with him. They all found themselves in the main room. It was rather large, with a door table in the middle. Duke looked at his small troop.

“We are going to have to split up to find Clemmons. I’ll go up the stairs. Bob, you go to the right. Daisy, you go left. And Snake, look in this room.” 

Before they split, Daisy looked at Duke mischievously. “How does it feel to be a part of your first jail break?” 

Duke was not in the mood for jokes, not when the world was catching on fire. He glared at her, then they split up. 

Duke ran up the stairs that lead to a door balcony. Even though everything was made out of doors, the two French doors in front of him seemed to stick out. Duke went through them and found himself in a long hallway lined with various pictures of doors. Of course, Duke didn’t know the different types. All he knew was that it weirded him out. He ran to the end of the hallway and came up to two more French doors. Even the door frames seemed to be made out of gold.

He opened the door and found himself in a bedroom. This must be Tippy’s room. The bed was centered on the far wall, framed by drapes that hung from the ceiling. There were two night stands on each side. Both had a picture of a door on top of the wooden tables. Bookshelves lined the wall opposite to the one with the bed. The bay window to the right lit up the whole room. The view was stunning. The other buildings seemed far away. Duke couldn’t make out their door details from this far, and that was a refreshing change. 

Even though the room seemed empty, Duke decided to explore it a bit more, in case there were secret doors. Knowing Tippy, there could definitely be one. Besides, he was curious as to just what Tippy was doing living up in a palace, while everyone else was not having a good time. 

Duke first walked over to one of the bookshelves. He quickly scanned the title of the books. There were various books called “How to Build a Door”, “A Doorman’s Guide to Doors”, and of course, “Anatomy of a Door.”

“Ew.” Duke shuddered. 

Tippy was definitely a weird guy with his unhealthy obsession with doors. He continued walking and saw a clothing rack. From it hung Tippy’s new master criminal outfit and his doorman outfit. Duke gritted his jaw. The outfits were hanging side by side on the rack, as if Tippy was proud of both. How dare he display his master criminal outfit, when he’d used it to terrorize the city?

Duke also thought back to the last time he’d seen Tippy in his regular doorman outfit, the time Tippy asked him out to the Mayor’s Ball. How naive he had been back then. He’d been pulled in by Tippy’s sob story about wanting to clear his name. He’d wanted to give Tippy a second chance. But that was all an illusion, masking his deluded nature. Duke couldn’t believe that Tippy could have manipulated him so well. That man was way too good at faking a friendly persona, at acting like a normal citizen. 

But he would never fall prey to Tippy’s tricks again. He was going to make sure that he and his citizens made it back safely to the city, no matter what happened to Tippy. 

He let out a breath. He had to keep searching the room. Turning around, he made his way to the bed. It was a king sized bed, and the covers were patterned with gold embroidered doors. Duke stepped closer to the bed to get a better look, but as he did so, his foot hit a white box that was sticking out from under the bed. He picked it up and saw that it was labeled, “City Memories”. Inside it was a few pictures of the city. More than a few showed Harl and Tippy. One photo in particular caught his attention. It was a picture of him arresting Tippy, it was probably torn out from a newspaper. Duke whispered angrily to himself.

“I should’ve never forgiven Tippy the first time he tried to bring Paradoors. But he won’t fool me ever again!”

He quickly finished his search of the gold-filled room, hating it more and more. Tippy had obtained this palace, this way of living by exploiting the city! Everyone’s lives, their peace and safety, all had been shattered, simply because of one man’s selfish desire for riches and power! Duke’s rage was growing until finally he couldn’t handle it. 

“Are you happy now?!”

He picked up the city memories box again and saw a tear hit the box. He didn’t realize he was crying.

It truly sickened him to see that Tippy kept a box of memories of the city he tortured. He grasped the box then threw it across the room. As he did so, the contents spilled out. Duke turned his anger to the rest of Tippy’s room. That treacherous doorman didn’t deserve any of this! He first targeted the king-sized bed. Tippy didn’t deserve to sleep in a nice warm bed while Duke had been up every night worried for the safety of his city. He ripped the sheets and blanket off the bed and threw them against the floor. 

Duke then stormed his way over to the window. Duke imagined Tippy looking out at the cityscape, taking pleasure in the lives he ruined. He grabbed the gold curtains and ripped them off the curtain rod. He then ferociously went to the door photos on the nightstand and shattered their frames. It felt good to destroy the photos of the objects Tippy cared about over the lives of every citizen. 

A loud crash shook the building, snapping him out of his rage. He realized Freya was close, and it wouldn’t be too long before the flames reached them. He stopped his frenzy and ran out of the trashed bedroom. He went back through the hallway and then went back to the balcony. He walked down the stairs and slowed his breathing, trying to calm down. Snake Rattler was near the foot of the stairs, looking behind a bunch of doors. Duke cleared his throat to get his attention.

“Any luck?” Duke said.

Snake shook his head. “No, what about you?”

“No, I only saw Tippy’s room. It was really horrible”

“Oh I bet.” said Daisy, entering from the left side. Her pockets bulged with something. Every step she took produced a jangling sound.

Duke suspiciously looked at her. “Daisy, what do you have there?” 

Daisy was folding her arms around the mass under her jacket. Something slipped out of it and clanked on the floor. It was a gold coin. 

“Drop it.” Duke didn’t want Daisy slowing any of them down. “We are here to get Clemmons only.” 

“Aw come on Duke this guy is loaded!”

“Drop it.” 

Daisy was annoyed. “Ugh, fine.” 

She released her jacket and the mound of gold spilled onto the floor. 

Bob came out from the right side of the building in a rush. “I found Clemmons!” 

Relief washed over Duke. They had cut it kind of close; he could tell the flames were approaching quickly. They all ran down a flight of stairs, Bob in the lead. He reached a door and threw it open. Inside was a small bedroom that was being used as Clemmons’ cell. Clemmons himself looked truly overjoyed to see them, but seeing his hands trapped in capsules broke Duke’s heart. Tippy would pay for this. 

Bob was about to run up to Clemmons, but Daisy put her hand in front of him.

“Stand back.” Daisy lit a stick of dynamite and placed it by the chains on Clemmons hands. 

Clemmons looked up Daisy worried. “Will this hurt me?” 

She shrugged. “It shouldn’t.” 

Clemmons closed his eyes as he braced for the explosion. The dynamite was small enough that it only broke the chains on Clemmons and nothing else. He was finally free. He got up and raced to Bob. Bob opened his arms for a hug, and finally, Clemmons was able to hug back. They stood there for a bit until they let go. 

Clemmons looked at the group that had rescued him. “Thank you.” 

The group smiled; even Snake managed to let out a small smile. Clemmons stopped for a moment as he seemed to notice something was off.

“What is that smell? It smells like smoke.” 

Duke smiled. “It’s our plan.”

* * *

Here's the comics! Quite a few scenes were taken out in the comics, because I added them in later. But that's why I recommend you read the fic! The comics are like an added bonus.

[The Plan Comic Part 1](https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/unhinged-lego-city-adventures-/the-plan-pt-1/viewer?title_no=494772&episode_no=13)

[The Plan Comic Part 2](https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/unhinged-lego-city-adventures-/the-plan-pt-2/viewer?title_no=494772&episode_no=14)


	10. Justice and Mercy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning! There is a fire! The comics are at the end after the epilogue.

Bob and Clemmons ran out of the palace behind Duke and the others, and what Clemmons saw made him want to scream more than anything else. Everything was on fire. Freya was standing in the middle of it all, throwing dynamite. Clemmons couldn’t decide what was scarier: the fact that everything was on fire, or the fact that Freya was the one setting everything on fire. He stood there in horror but Bob put his arm on his shoulder. 

“We need to hurry! We don’t want Tippy to see us!” 

They ran towards the big doors that lead back home. They were so close. 20 feet...10 feet…

Tippy cut them off, standing directly in front of the doors.

“And where do you think you guys are going in such a hurry?” Tippy looked at the panting group, then saw Clemmons with them, freed. “Clemmons? How did you escape?” 

Duke growled at Tippy “Move over Tippy! Otherwise I’ll make you.” 

He stared at Duke’s face, his eyes shielded by his sunglasses. He looked more ruthless when he was staring at Tippy like that, but Tippy stood his ground. 

Duke came charging up to Tippy, rearing back a clenched fist. Tippy didn’t have time to do anything but close his eyes and brace for the punch.

...Nothing. He hesitantly opened his eyes. To his surprise, he saw Harl standing between him and Duke. 

“Don’t hurt him!” he yelled.

Duke glared under his sunglasses “Move over Harl! I’ve gotta show Tippy what happens when he messes with me!” 

Harl was very distressed. “We need to talk with him!” 

Duke snapped. “Harl, we’ve talked about this so many times! We can’t talk to Tippy, he's  _ insane _ .” 

Tippy flinched at the word “insane”. Duke said it with such venom. He’d never seen Duke so angry and so...vengeful.

“Please.” Harl was shaking, but Duke didn’t relax his fist. 

“Harl get out of the way! Tippy needs to pay for everything he did!” A tear rolled down his cheek. 

Harl looked at Duke, who was trembling. “Duke, I understand that you want to get revenge on Tippy. But letting your pain and anger cloud your judgment is the easy way. The hard way is to give Tippy another chance.” 

Duke’s expression slowly changed as he relaxed his muscles and wiped away his tears. 

“Fine.” 

Duke stepped back and folded his arms. After Harl addressed Duke, he turned to face Tippy.

“Please Tippy,” he said, “let us all go back home.” 

Tippy scanned the crowd, completely baffled. “I thought everyone was happy here.” 

Duke scoffed “No, Tippy. No one’s happy.” 

Tippy was astonished. No one but a select few people had voiced their dissatisfaction with Paradoors, and Tippy had worked hard to resolve things with those dissenters, and make them happy again. And Paradoors was supposed to have given them joy. It was supposed to be the height of human happiness. What went wrong? 

A voice chimed in from behind the crowd. “Actually I’m pretty happy here.” 

Duke turned and was in shock. “Fendrich! Where have you been?!”

“Tippy gave me a palace! The doors weren’t all that great, but I can’t complain too much because I have lots of gold.” 

Duke raised his eyebrow. “So Tippy didn’t hurt you?” 

Tippy was offended. “Of course not, I’m trying to make you guys happy!”

Duke glared through his sunglasses. “Well what about the crooks!? Where did they go?” 

Frankie approached from behind Duke. “We’re all fine. Tippy gave us jewels and huge places along the countryside… But we got bored and missed doing jobs together. So we came back to the city and well we saw everything on fire and here we are now.” 

Tippy raised his eyebrow at the crooks. “Well what else could I do to make you want to stay?” 

Vito shrugged. “Nothing. I mean this place is on fire anyways.” 

Tippy felt alone as the whole city gave him hostile looks, all except Harl. Tippy’s attention was averted as he saw his palace had caught fire and parts of it had already collapsed in on itself. The fire had grown so large that it stretched as far as he could see, and it was getting closer to him.

“Why would you burn my perfect world?!” Tippy backed up until he hit the door, protecting it with his arms. Harl came closer to Tippy, as if to console him.

Tippy couldn’t believe it had come to this. “Is this what you wanted?!” he snapped at Harl. 

Harl stood in front of him. “Tippy, please understand that no one is happy here, not even you!” 

Tippy tried to hold back tears. “What are you talking about?! I’m in Paradoors! Of course I’m happy!” 

“I know that you sneak out at night to try to open this door. You were trying to leave, but you couldn’t. Only Clemmons can open this door. You are stuck here.” 

Tippy had a hard time making eye contact with Harl. “That’s nonsense! I was making sure that the door was locked!” 

That didn’t convince Harl. “I know that you keep your palace door unlocked. You’ve been hoping someone would visit you.” 

Tippy was hyperventilating. “How do you know about that?” 

“I know you Tippy. You just want what’s best for us, but you need to let us make our own choices to make us happy.” 

Clemmons stepped forward and chimed in. “I agree here. Tippy tried making me happy back in my cell. He told me how much he wanted everyone to be happier. Tippy had good intentions, but he went about it in the wrong way.” 

Tears welled in his eyes. “Alright fine! I am not happy in Paradoors! But I thought all of you guys were doing good here, so I stayed out of your way. I didn’t want to jeopardize your happiness. I never intended to hurt any of you.” 

Now he couldn’t stop the tears from spilling down his face. It broke him to realize that no one was happy in Paradoors. Happiness was the sole reason why Tippy had worked so hard to bring this world to reality. All that work, all that pain and suffering and loneliness he had gone through, and had put others through, all that had been for nothing. He couldn’t believe all this time that his ancestors were lying to him. The Dorman family line had raised him believing that a world was out there for happiness. He truly believed their lies. They told him this was the only direction to happiness. But now more than ever before he was truly ashamed of the family name. Tippy hadn’t brought happiness to everyone; he had brought misery and hurt to everyone, including himself. 

Harl looked up at Tippy, who was still crying. “Please. Come home with us.” 

Tippy was finally able to make eye contact. “Don’t act like you want me back home. Not after everything I’ve done.” 

Harl grabbed Tippy’s hand. “I do want you home, I care about you Tippy. When we were in space, I tried stopping your plans because I thought you were trying to hurt the city. But now I see you just wanted everyone to be happy and you thought Paradoors was the only option. It’s my duty to help our city and that includes you. I’m going to help you by forgiving you.” 

Tippy closed his eyes and repeatedly shook his head. How could Harl forgive him so easily? He saw now that the only way to make everyone happy was to let them go back home. But why was Harl trying to make him feel better? He had done so many things wrong. Even though his heart was in the right place, it didn’t make everything he did ok. 

Then, Clemmons stepped forward. “I actually forgive you too. Ironically, when I was your prisoner, I saw that you really aren’t all that evil. I now see that you were just trying to make us happy. You definitely went about it wrong, but now you have a chance to make a change.” 

Tippy was starting to calm down a little bit. Duke cleared his throat to get Tippy's attention. He had an unreadable expression. Tippy was able to see his own reflection through Duke’s sunglasses. He noticed how distressed he looked, but he also noticed the crown that was on top of his head. He didn’t deserve it. 

Duke inhaled before he spoke. “Tippy, you messed up big time. You messed with me and my city. Every single day for a month and a half I had to wake up knowing that the biggest threat to the city was a man I was once friends with. Tippy, we were close. But you clearly never cared for me or the city.” 

Duke continued speaking but almost sounded like a growl. “You once said a doorman is full of honor. You disgraced our friendship and hurt my city… that is far from honorable. Tippy...I can’t forgive you.”

Those last words pierced Tippy’s heart. 

He lowered his head. He understood why Duke couldn’t forgive him. The things he had done were unforgivable. He so badly wanted his city to be happy, but he hadn’t realized he was actually hurting them. He thought that Paradoors would fix all the problems that everyone faced back at home, but he was mistaken. 

Unexpectedly, Duke continued. “Well, I can’t forgive you until you prove yourself. You can at the very least start with letting us go home.” 

Tippy scanned the crowd. As a doorman he knew so much about everyone; he thought that made him the true authority on everyone’s happiness. But it was clear now that the city wasn’t as naive and simple as he thought. He knew he had to step back and let people make their own choices for their well-being.

Anyways, Duke was right. The very least he could do is allow them to leave and return to the city.

“Clemmons, the door.” 

Clemmons stepped forward and this time, didn’t hesitate to open the door. He could see their city and the dark silhouettes of the buildings. The moon shined over the Fendrich and Sinclair arch. The dark city was completely still, and felt a bit ominous. But it was still home, and Clemmons had missed it so much. Their dim, calm city was a huge contrast from Paradoors, which was currently on fire. 

Clemmons waved his hands for everyone to make their way through the doorway. The town quickly evacuated the burning world while Tippy helped guide the people to safety. Harl stood by his side. A moment passed, and he reached out and grasped Tippy’s hand. Tippy watched the crowd make their way back home, then he turned to Harl.

“How could you still forgive me? After everything I’ve done?” 

Harl smiled warmly at him. “Because I love you.” 

Harl opened his arms as he came in for a hug, but Tippy pushed himself away.

“Well you shouldn't, I’ve done too many things wrong. Nothing about me is deserving of your love.”

Harl looked shocked. He was just about to speak, but Clemmons beat him to it.

“Sorry to interrupt this moment, but do I need to remind you that everything is on fire? You guys are the last ones!” 

Tippy looked back one last time at his world on fire. He had never seen a fire so large and hungry. Usually the firefighters would have put it out long before it ever stretched this far. Speaking of firefighters…

Freya McCloud ran back from the city, pushing past Tippy and Harl. Tippy was astonished and yelled at Freya who was sprinting further away, toward the flames.

“What are you doing?! We need to get out of here!” 

Freya stopped and looked at Tippy with tears in her eyes. “I did a head count. We are missing Buster! Apparently, he never came to the karaoke! There must’ve been a mistake in our sign-up. I am not going to lose a member of my crew because of the fire I started!” 

Tippy caught up to her and grabbed her arm. “Let me go. I’m the one with door powers.”

Freya backed up a bit and started crying even more. “Please bring him back safely. The last place I saw him was in his apartment.” 

Duke came running back to help Freya back through the door to the regular world. Tippy started running across the road to the closest door, but Harl grabbed his hand. Tippy turned back to him.

“Harl, let me do this. Let me do one good thing in my life.” 

Harl grasped his hand tighter. “I’m coming with you.” 

Tippy smiled and ran towards the nearest door, still holding Harl’s hand tightly. They came up to the nearest intact door and Tippy opened it. But something about it felt off; it felt more difficult than usual to access his powers. Thankfully, the door portaled to the apartment, through a door that had not yet been burned down. He and Harl rushed into the apartment, heat pressing down on them. Smoke plumed all around them, making it about impossible to see anything, much less Buster. Luckily, the flames hadn’t seemed to reach this floor of the building yet, and most everything was intact. But Tippy knew they didn’t have much time.

“Buster!? Where are you?!” Tippy coughed out the smoke that filled his lungs. 

Harl looked at Tippy. “Tippy… Buster doesn’t speak.”

Tippy knew that, but he couldn’t help but try. “Well at least he knows we’re here for him.” 

Tippy’s height did not help in this case. He had to bend over to get his head out of the thick smoke. He led the way through Buster’s apartment, checking all the rooms, but he was still nowhere to be seen. Maybe he wasn’t here? 

Harl jumped as he felt something poke behind him. He turned and saw Buster was trying to get his attention.

“Buster! Why haven’t you evacuated the building?!” 

Buster grabbed Harl’s hand and led him to the hallway of the apartment. He pointed at the descending stairs that seethed with flames. They were clearly not stable. 

Tippy herded them toward a door that had not been touched by the fire. He opened the door but unexpectedly, it led to a regular apartment. The door led exactly where it was supposed to. In any other experience that would be normal, but not to a man with door powers.

“My door powers aren’t working!” He tried opening the door various times, but it didn’t work.“I think it’s because Paradoors is burning down. I can’t use my powers without Paradoors!” Tippy started to panic. How were they going to get back? 

Harl came and put his hand on Tippy’s shoulder. “Let me help.” 

Harl looked around at his surroundings to see what he could work with. The flames from the stairs lashed closer, flaring up ferociously. He ran back into the apartment and opened its window. Tippy looked out the window in horror. They were eight stories up!

“Please don’t tell me you're thinking of jumping!” 

Harl looked back at Tippy. “Not exactly. I need your cape.” 

Tippy ripped off his golden sparkling cape and gave it to Harl. Harl took off his long green trench coat and gave it to Buster. “This is for you.” 

Buster held it with a confused expression, but then Harl explained. “We are going to use these to get across the clotheslines to the other building.” 

Tippy looked over at the other building. It didn’t seem to be too affected by the fire. The clotheslines led directly to a balcony with an intact ladder that led all the way down to the ground. Harl cleared the way to the window.

“Here Buster, you go first. Get to the other side and make it down the ladder.”

Buster nodded, walking over to the window. He wrapped Harl’s trench coat around the clothesline. Hopping onto the windowsill, he kicked off and slid down. He did it with such confidence. Maybe that was because it was similar to riding a fireman pole, except it was more horizontal. This also seemed similar to the antics Buster always seemed to be getting himself into. He was probably used to it. 

Harl then positioned Tippy’s cape on the line. 

“Wait, Harl.” Tippy said. “There is only one cape. How are we both going to make it over safely?” 

Harl stood on the windowsill and looked back at Tippy. “You’re going to have to hold on tightly.” 

Tippy felt a bit woozy at the idea, but knew he had no other choice. He stepped on the windowsill alongside Harl and grabbed his waist from behind. “Are you sure you can hold the both of us?” 

Harl didn’t answer. He was already starting to slide down the line. All Tippy could do was trust Harl, close his eyes, and scream. He held on so tight, it hurt his arms, feeling the wind rush around him. 

Before he knew it, they’d made it to the other side. Tippy let go of Harl, collapsing onto the balcony. He used the balcony railing to climb back up to his feet, trying to stop his body from shaking. Harl then handed Tippy back his cape and made his way down the ladder. Tippy reattached his cape and quickly followed. 

Once they reached the ground, they ran through the city, avoiding flames. Tippy was used to traveling by door, he realized he hardly even knew the layout of Paradoors. He hoped they were going the right direction. 

Luckily Harl spotted the gateway to the normal world, but the flames had traveled dangerously close to that door. If the flames were to engulf that door they’d be stuck in the flaming world. They had no time to waste. 

They sprinted down the street, closer and closer to the doors, but the flames were also approaching fast. Buster was the first one to the door and safely made his way out. Next was Harl. Embers singed Tippy. He was so close. 

He about tripped through the doors, shutting them behind him right before the flames could devour him. He could do nothing but pant for a few moments. But he’d made it, and Paradoors was no more. 

A crowd of firefighters came over to Buster and hugged him. 

Gabby came over to them in a rush. “Buster, I am so so sorry! I was in charge of making sure everyone was accounted for at the karaoke! But the names on our list were written with last names first, and someone with the first name Lloyd marked your name, before realizing his mistake and marking his own name. He tried crossing out the mistake, but that only made it look like the box had been filled. I knew we should have used pencils instead!” 

Buster just shook his head, smiled, and hugged Gabby, showing his forgiveness, before he went back to hugging his crew. 

Freya looked at Tippy and Harl . This time, her tears were ones of joy. “Thank you.”

Tippy noticed that Buster's firefighter crew were very close. They all cared about Buster so much and were very relieved that he was safe. It was touching to see.

Tippy wished that he had someone who cared for him like that. His thoughts were cut off when Harl turned around and hugged him. Tippy hugged back and realized he did have someone. 

“Harl, thank you for believing in me when everyone thought I was a lost cause.”

Harl looked at Tippy through his arms. “I’m always happy to help…Because I love you.”

Tippy rested his head on top of Harl’s head. Harl had now declared his love for him twice. There was no doubt that he cared for Tippy. But what about him? Did he love Harl? Their relationship had been very complicated, mostly because of Tippy. In space they had grown very close, but that ended in flames when they came crashing towards earth. Was Tippy going to let their relationship end in flames once again? He looked at Harl’s smiling face. For so long he had misconceptions on joy. But Harl’s warm smile looked genuine. Harl loved him. Looking at his face, Tippy realized the source of happiness came from love. He made his decision.

“I love you too.”

He lived his entire life growing up to believe that happiness could only be brought from a superior doorman. Someone who had received so much power that they could control everyone’s well being and force them to be happy. Tippy was glad now that he had Harl at his side to be able to awaken him from the lies he had believed. He was grateful that Harl showed him what happiness felt like.

Harl got on his toes so he could be at the same height as Tippy. “Isn’t it funny that I have to get up on my  _ tippy  _ toes to be at your level?” 

Tippy laughed as his face grew hot. “You are ridiculous, Harl.” 

He gently touched Harl’s lips with his. Harl had moved his hands up and was holding Tippy’s head as they kissed. Tippy couldn’t help but smile under Harl’s lips; he finally experienced happiness. Although he enjoyed this moment, he knew it couldn’t last. He had one last thing to do. He carefully grabbed Harl’s hands that cradled his head and moved them away before he let go of Harl.

“I’m sorry Harl, but there is something I must do.” 

Tippy let go of him and made his way over to Duke, who was talking with his coworkers. Duke looked up at him, but before Duke could say anything Tippy collapsed at his feet and knelt there on the ground. He didn’t look up at Duke as he spoke.

“I know that you didn’t forgive me back in Paradoors. I am not here to ask for mercy. I kneel here so justice can be brought upon me.” 

It was quite the scene, seeing Tippy in his royal doorman outfit, bowing. He held his wrists forward. Duke put handcuffs on his wrists and helped him up. 

He took off his sunglasses “I believe you need justice, but I also think you deserve forgiveness. I saw what you did back there. You risked your life to save Buster and that shows that you truly care about the city. Everything you did will take time to heal, but I will grant you forgiveness.” 

Tippy smiled at Duke. It was the first nice thing he’d heard from him in over a month. He then led Tippy to New Car. As soon as Duke saw New Car his eyes lit up. He then let go of Tippy and ran to New Car and gave it a hug. 

“I missed you, New Car!” 

“I’ve missed you too, Duke!” it said.

Tippy made his own way to New Car; Duke opened the backseat door for him. Tippy stepped in and sat down, Duke closing the door behind him.

Duke got in the driver’s seat. He expected Duke to start driving, but he didn’t.

“Wait, I am missing something.” Duke got out and Tippy waited patiently. 

Duke came back and threw Cluster in the back seat with Tippy.

“Ah, floundering termites! I guess I be doin’ time in the big house.” 

Duke raised his eyebrow at Cluster. “You guess? You left the entire city in a room to starve!” 

Cluster looked up at Tippy in shock. “You told me that they’d be fine!” 

Tippy sank further into his seat and looked at the ground. “I’m sorry. They were… I would’ve given up before I’d let them starve.”

“And dang it, you never helped me find the treasure!” 

Tippy lowered his head even more. “I thought Paradoors was the treasure.” 

Duke closed the back door for them, making his way back to his driver’s seat. The car pulled out into the road. 

“Well if I’m bein’ honest, while I was looking for the treasure, I realized something. I so badly wanted to find that treasure to carry out my son’s legacy, but I realized what kind of legacy would I be leaving for my boy betraying my city? I don’t think my son would’ve wanted that.”

Tippy looked up confused at Cluster. “What do you mean you were looking for the treasure? Weren’t you in Paradoors?”

“Para-what now? I dunno what cha talkin about. I was underground for ‘bout a week cause I felt too guilty to go anywhere. Then I came back to see the room I locked cha guys in and I saw it was empty. I thought everyone left the town ‘cause they hated me.”

“I feel you.” Tippy looked out the window as they made their way to jail. 

It was silent until Cluster spoke again. “Do ya think Harl could ‘er forgive me? I dun messed up and I realized that boy is like family to me.”

“You might be surprised. Harl is very forgiving.” It was quiet for another moment.

“Ya know that boy spoke an awful lot ‘bout cha. He cares ‘bout ya.” 

Tippy smiled a bit.

“I care for him too.”

* * *

**Epilogue**

_ It has been three months since I got out of Paradoors. Man, everything that happened was so unexpected! Even for me! The Narrator! Anyways, I got a phone call saying that I can tell you how everything wrapped up. Tippy of course did time in prison. It was a little more than what Judge Strictpunish would normally do. Tippy had a total time of 1 month and 2 weeks. All of it was his own choice too! He chose that time because it was how long everybody in the city had been in a crisis because of him. He thought it was the least he could do. _

_ Along with that, Tippy made sure his hands were chained up just like how Clemmons was. He didn’t do it because he had door powers; he and Clemmons lost that when Paradoors burned down. He did it so he could get a small taste of his own medicine. Cluster on the other hand had about 9 hours in prison. Once he got out, he apologized to Harl, and man is everyone lucky that Harl is such a nice guy! As for Harl, he went and visited Tippy often in prison.  _

_ Once Tippy got out the two started doing everything together! They are practically inseparable! Tippy quit his job as a doorman and became a… drumroll please… handyman! He decided it was the best occupation for him! Helping the city out with Harl became one of his favorite things to do! Of course Tippy was a handyman that had a specific specialty; He helped people with their doors. It was his favorite way of helping as a handyman!  _

_ Now what happened to Duke? He got help with dealing with his anger towards Tippy. He’s in a much better place now and enjoys going on high speed adventures with New Car and Cubby. _

  
_ Everyone else in the city went and carried out their normal lives. Clemmons and Bob decided to take a vacation. They definitely deserved one. Now am I missing anyone? Anyone at all that you are interested to know how they're doing? No? Seriously? You’re not going to ask how  _ _ I’m _ _ doing? Well fine, I guess you won’t hear it, then. Actually alright I’ll tell you. I’m doing pretty well, thanks for not asking. Well with that being said, I’m honestly not too sure how I should end this story. How about with this sentence. There. _

* * *

Alright here's the comic versions including the epilogue!

[Justice and Mercy Comic Part 1](https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/unhinged-lego-city-adventures-/justice-and-mercy-pt-1/viewer?title_no=494772&episode_no=15)

[Justice ad Mercy Comic Part 2](https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/unhinged-lego-city-adventures-/justice-and-mercy-pt-2/viewer?title_no=494772&episode_no=16)

[Epilogue Comic](https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/unhinged-lego-city-adventures-/epilogue-/viewer?title_no=494772&episode_no=17)


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